


Lock Me Up

by ChangeTheCircumstances



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Incredible Hulk (2008), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Criminals, Alternate Universe - Hackers, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bruce is Bipolar, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Government Conspiracy, Hulk is a dog, M/M, Midgard and Asgard are different countries in this, Slow Burn, Thriller
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-05-20 08:58:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 52,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14891558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChangeTheCircumstances/pseuds/ChangeTheCircumstances
Summary: Bruce finds himself stuck after an accident in the lab causes his demotion and the loss of most of his well known acquaintances. However, when Thor enters his life, Bruce suddenly finds himself thrown into conspiracies and lies as he realizes his most recent project wasn't so innocent.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So this is kind of inspired by my own video that I made here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFp2ASOe4TY&lc=z23jyz4wgwyttnymlacdp43agnkda0mddcpszqox2zlw03c010c
> 
> Just little plot bunnies started forming and I couldn't help but start writing. I'm not sure how many chapters this will have (I imagine at least ten if not more depending on what happens). I won't add every character that will get mentioned but if they have a significant presence in at least one chapter (not a cameo or mentioned) then I'll tag them. Right now all the characters that I know will appear are tagged but more may be added as the story continues to form in my head.
> 
> Also, quick disclaimer, I write about Bipolar Disorder from my own personal experiences with it and my knowledge of governments, conspiracies, and hacking comes from my limited knowledge on the subject and what research I can find. The story is more about the journey and Bruce and Thor's forming relationship in this particular set of circumstances, not the particulars lol.
> 
> This first chapter has a lot of world building and set-up but I hope you enjoy what I've got here. Thank you for reading and kudos and comments are greatly appreciated!

Bruce rubbed his eyes. Staring at his computer for so long that it had started giving him a headache. He missed the labs, the steady hum of equipment, the beeping monitors. Office work wasn’t for him. Not really, but it paid the rent and kept his stomach full so he couldn’t really complain.

With another tired groan, he pushed himself back and decided it was time to go on lunch break. In the labs, he could have easily gone days without eating, only the insistence of his fellow technicians making him take the necessary breaks. Now he was only too happy to leave his floor.

He went to the ground level, heading to the cafeteria where he grabbed whatever was offered, paid, and then quickly sat down.

Bruce had never been one wanting for fame. He’d always done his work out of his simple love for science, for discovery. Yet he’d never quite realized how much his ability to continue his passion had been reliant on his repeated successes.

And to be fair, simply being demoted had been the kindest thing they could have done to him. Though not his direct boss, General Ross had certainly tried to get him not only fired but charged. Bruce was fairly certain that if he had tried to leave, Ross would have been more successful. He just knew too much. As it was, his current position allowed them to keep an eye on Bruce and he was able to pay rent. Not a perfect compromise but one that at least worked.

He continued to pick through his food slowly with one hand as his other one flipped through a new scientific journal. He’d once been the one writing those. Now, the best he could do was write of the theoretical and hop off of other’s work. He looked over the newest attempts at nano technology and read about the particular setbacks of that researcher. They likely still had a few years before any practical leaps were made, and—

“Hello.”

Bruce blinked in surprise. No one said hello to him. Not that he’d been particularly sociable before, but all the people he’d really known were gone one way or another. The rest were just co-workers, names that he found for a means to an end, not a pleasant chat.

And of course once Bruce actually looked at who had spoken, he was only more confused. He was fairly certain he’d never seen the man before, but he had to work in the building if he was there now. And if he worked there, then why would he be talking to Bruce? Certainly someone had warned him about the man who blew up an entire lab.

Then there was the added fact that this man didn’t look like he belonged in the slightest. Maybe if his hair was chopped off, he was in military uniform, and a bitter son of a bitch, then Bruce could understand a little. But he wasn’t refined enough to be military and was certainly smiling too much. He also just didn’t look like the science type, plain and simple despite the lab coat. He was already standing out in the cafeteria alone.

The way he’d said ‘hello’ as well. It was just too cheerful and—

“Is it not customary to say hello back?”

Bruce blinked again, his cheeks going red as he realized all he’d done was blankly stare at the younger man who had a very bright and cheerful smile on his face now and— No. No he was doing it again. He forced his brain to slow down as he finally stumbled out a response. “Not many-I mean there aren’t a lot of people who’d-well who’d sit with me.”

“I find that hard to believe. A brilliant mind like yours? I’m sure people are standing in line to hear your thoughts.”

“I very much doubt that,” Bruce sighed. The man had to be new-like first day new-if he hadn’t heard. Either that or the lowest clearance level possible (though that didn’t make since considering his clothes).

“Not one for conversation, are you?” The man said, seemingly just as pleasant as ever. Bruce wondered if it was possible to take his mood down at all.

However, he pulled back the sharp responses and chose distance instead. He would have felt bad dampening the man’s mood. “I’m not great at conversation,” Bruce simply said. “And I typically eat alone.”

“Ah, I’m bothering you.”

“N-no. It’s just—”

“No need to explain doctor. It’s not like we had an appointment after all,” the man gently smiled, humor clear in his voice. He stood up and unexpectedly clapped Bruce on his shoulder. “It was excellent meeting you Dr. Banner. Have a good day.”

Bruce barely managed to mumble out a response before the man was already gone. And then…he hadn’t even found out the man’s name. Or how he knew Bruce’s. Shaking his head, he just returned to his food and his reading.

It wasn’t long before he was throwing the packages away and quickly heading back to the elevator. He patted at his lapel, then his pockets. But he’d sworn that he’d brought it down from his desk…

“Forget your badge doctor?”

“I uh…I guess—”

“No problem. I see you often enough and know you’re meant to be here. I’ll send you up,” the man said, scanning his own card. “Floor eight, correct.”

Bruce just gave a quick nod, looking at the ground to avoid showing his embarrassment as he got in and rode up to his floor. At his desk, he quickly found his identification wasn’t there either. He let out a soft groan, his head hitting the desk as he accepted defeat. He wished Betty was still there. She’d always known what to do in times like this, had always found the right words.

Even if she couldn’t change anything, her presence had helped but now Bruce could feel the tears pricking at the corner of his eyes over a stupid card. He tightened his grip, burying his head underneath his arms. He’d ruined everything. Of course he couldn’t handle even a stupid identification card. Just so stupid…so damn stupid…

At the very least he managed to keep the cries low. No one intervened, or no one chose to as he stayed stuck in his cubicle.

He just wanted to curl up and—

Right, that report he still needed to accept or decline and send on up. Suddenly, the tears stopped and the fear of procrastinating overwhelmed his lack of self worth. He wiped at his eyes, quickly going back to work and losing himself in the proposal and the near countless sentences.

By the time he finished that report and was onto the next, his eyes had completely dried and he’d already forgotten about his episode. He continued until the clock hit six, finally remembering his lost badge. The elation he felt at being done for the day quickly dropped again and suddenly it clicked with Bruce. He remembered snapping at one of the younger workers that day, the irritation and anger coming out of nowhere.

Of course. His medication. He’d completely forgotten that day and…probably the day before too. When he’d worked in the lab, it was Betty who would help remind him as he became too engrossed in his work. Now he found himself too often lost in nothing, bored to death and just not bothering to keep up with things. He forced himself to make a note for tomorrow morning on his phone. He needed to get back on schedule with that.

Just bone tired and now wanting to fall in bed, Bruce forced his feet towards his boss’ office to inform him he’d need a new badge. As he did so, someone suddenly bumped into him. His anger flew, and he reacted with a growled, “Hey!” but the man was already…wait. Was that the man from lunch?

Bruce shook his head again. He just needed to get home. Everything would be better once he was home.

He readjusted his jacket, ready to go back to his boss’ office only to suddenly feel his badge hanging from his lapel again. Blinking in surprise, he quickly looked it over but no, it was definitely his. He looked back, trying to find any sight of the man that he’d run into but he was long gone.

Head hurting and fatigue increasing, Bruce changed direction and headed back to the elevator. He left quickly, even speeding a bit just to get home sooner. He walked into his apartment, his mood finally brightening again as he was met with the one thing that hadn’t left him, nor that he’d hurt.

The large St. Bernard walked over with his heavy paws. He looked grumpy but Bruce had gotten used to that. At least with his older age he’d mellowed a bit more. After the first few months he’d finally warmed up to Bruce and the neighbors who looked after him when Bruce couldn’t, and at least now there was only a forty percent chance that he’d bark and growl at everyone else. Bruce bent down and scratched him behind the ears. “Hey Hulk.”

Hulk growled.

“Yeah, yeah I know. You get fed first. I’m on it,” sighed Bruce. He walked into the combined kitchen and living room, only to find the young nephew of his neighbors asleep on the couch and National Geographic playing on mute. Though a little unexpected, Bruce wasn’t completely surprised.

He went to the cabinet that held Hulk’s food and fed him, not stopping until Hulk growled in approval as usual. He walked back over to the boy and gently nudged him.

“Peter. Hey…”

“Wh-Dr. Banner?”

“Don’t sound so surprised. I do live here.”

Peter finally blinked himself awake and sat up straighter. “Sorry! Yeah of course I just-I know I wasn’t supposed to come over today and-and I didn’t break and enter-I just used the key you gave me but Hulk-I could hear him whining as I passed the door and just—”

“Slow down! It’s ok,” Bruce said, a tired smile tugging at his lips. “I already told you, you’re welcomed over whenever you like. Besides, I’m sure Hulk was glad of the company. Your aunt and uncle know where you are?”

“Of course!”

“Well then it’s perfectly fine,” Bruce replied. “Though I have to wonder how someone as young as you could fall asleep at only half past six in the afternoon.”

“I may have stayed up a little late working on that science fair project you’ve been helping me with.”

Bruce didn’t buy it. “You didn’t go to bed period, did you?”

“No,” Peter mumbled.

“Well I’m sure your aunt and uncle already chewed you out. Besides, considering all my late research nights, I don’t really have a right to object otherwise.”

Peter laughed, quickly brightening up and grinning from ear to ear. Thankfully he didn’t ask Bruce if he was working in the labs again. It seemed he’d finally gotten the message that Bruce wasn’t getting his old job back very soon (or at all). Instead, Peter just kept on grinning and asked, “Want to come over for dinner? Aunt May should be done by now.”

“Not tonight. But…maybe tomorrow ok?” Bruce added as Peter looked down.

“Yeah…yeah that would be great!” Peter quickly said. “And Ned will be over tomorrow. He’s already written down some more questions he’s been meaning to ask you.”

Bruce chuckled at that. “Then dinner tomorrow. Thank you for watching after Hulk.”

“No problem Dr. Banner. See you tomorrow night!”

“Night Peter.”

As Peter left and Hulk continued munching on his food, Bruce forced himself to the freezer and pulled out one of the many frozen meals there. He tried to hold onto the kid’s bright smiles and the plans for tomorrow in order to keep his mood up. However, after eating and watching an hour of nothing, Bruce was in the shower and then quickly in bed before it even hit eight thirty.

Bruce curled into himself just as Hulk jumped onto the bed. Though not the most loveable of animals, Hulk and Bruce were certainly more comfortable now than early on. Now if Bruce was feeling down (which in the past month had been most of the time), Hulk would come and comfort him. Before, all Hulk had really cared about was himself though you couldn’t really blame a dog for that, even an angry one.

“Night boy,” murmured Bruce as he patted Hulk’s head.

Hulk simply did his less intense version of a growl and they fell asleep.

* * *

Thor softly cursed under his breath as he left the building. This was going to be more complicated than anticipated. He’d thought Dr. Banner would have access to the necessary labs but something had to have happened since Thor had first started formulating his plans.

He’d never quite done something like this, certainly not on this scale. Keeping under the radar and out of the public eye was more his thing but this…if he screwed up, there was a large possibility he’d be thrown into a cell without a trial. And that was the best possible outcome should he be caught.

As he got in his car, he threw the lab coat into the back and pulled out the ponytail, letting his hair fall down as he started the car and quickly headed back outside the city to the small motel he’d gotten. Walking in, he instinctively grabbed the object that went flying for his head.

Thor looked at it before groaning and covering his face. “I said grab dinner.”

“That is dinner.”

“Beer is not dinner, Scraps.”

“First, yes it is. And second, I told you to stop with that.”

Thor grinned. “It’s not my fault your username is so catchy.” He grabbed the bottle opener on the desk and cracked open the beer.

“Scrapper 142 is only catchy to you.”

“You left me with no choice,” Thor grinned as he fell onto his bed. “Brunnhilde just doesn’t have any good nicknames and you said I couldn’t call you Val.”

“Because it’s stupid. I am a Valkyrie. That’s effectively calling me my job title.”

“And so you are Scraps.”

She groaned as Thor let out a hearty laugh before downing the bottle in one go. “Well, if you didn’t get dinner, I suppose I will again. There’s some fast food down the street.”

Scraps suddenly spun around in her chair, her gaze narrowed. “What happened?”

“What do you mean?”

“You offered to buy dinner.”

“I always offer to buy dinner because you always refuse to.”

“Yes, but you like going to actual places or at the very least grabbing Pop-Tarts from a grocery store.”

“Pop-Tarts are a great choice for dinner.”

“By that logic, so is beer, but that’s beside the point. You only agree to fast food if something’s gone wrong and you’re trying to soften the blow for me.”

“That is not true! Ow!”

“That didn’t hurt. Now tell me the truth,” grumbled Scraps. “What the hell happened today? You came back later than we planned too. Don’t think I didn’t notice!”

“I couldn’t get in, alright!” Thor groaned, rubbing his eyes tiredly. He pulled his legs in, sitting cross-legged and slumping over.

“What? Was the guy out sick or something? Just try tomorrow.”

“No, he didn’t have access to the lower levels.”

Scraps blinked in surprise. “That’s impossible. My sisters got me that information. He definitely works on Project Zodiac. The Valkyrie wouldn’t have lied.”

“I’m not saying any of them did! But something happened between them getting that information and now because the best I could access were a few floors of office space.”

Silence fell across the room like a deafening blow. Scraps paced a few times before suddenly kicking some of the empty beer cans and bottles. “Damn it! I told you this was a stupid idea!”

“And I told you—”

“That I didn’t have to come. I know!” She grabbed one of her opened bottles, slinging it back before glaring at Thor. “We need to give up.”

“What’s at stake—”

“Oh stop playing Robin Hood for once! I know this is like some crusade for you but I’m just trying to make a living and stay alive while doing it,” Scraps shot back. “This isn’t our fight. Just email some senator and be done with it!”

“I don’t have enough proof to do something like that. Besides, I don’t know who can be trusted or that I could get the information to them without someone else intercepting it. From what little we have, things could get deadly for everyone if we don’t do something!”

“Your way of getting in failed. It’ll take ages to lock onto another target and by then it could have been completed and sold already.”

Thor couldn’t help the pitiful noise that escaped his throat. His hair fell over his eyes as he bowed his head. He couldn’t help but agree. His jobs typically entailed stealing from the rich and spiteful to help the poor and wronged, all of which he could just do from his laptop more often than not. This was different though.

He was going out in the field, risking his anonymity, and really without any reward. But he also knew he was right. That something dangerous was being concocted in those labs, that people would be hurt if someone didn’t speak out and Thor couldn’t trust a whistleblower to come forward. He needed—

An idea popped into his mind. Thor’s head shot back up, eyes suddenly bright and smile back.

“Oh no.”

Thor cocked his head to the side.

“That look only means you’re going to suggest something completely insane.”

“It’s not—”

“Just spit it out.”

“But—”

“I know I’m going to be disappointed no matter what you say so just…come on. What is it?”

Thor rolled his eyes but hopped onto his feet all the same, the idea now renewing his hopes. “I get Dr. Banner to help me break in.”

“Allfather. It’s worse than I thought.”

“I’m serious! He knows the facility and we know he was once connected to the project. Perhaps his apparent demotion means he’ll have reason to get back at his job.”

“Or he’ll just report you.”

“But he might not! You have to admit, it’ll be quicker than cracking back into their network considering how often it changes and updates its security.”

“That still doesn’t mean it’s a good idea!”

“But it is a better one.”

“Well you got me there.”

“Perfect! In that case I’ll meet up with him tomorrow, figure out where he stands, and from there we’ll—”

“Thor, there isn’t going to be a ‘we’ after this. Remember.”

“Ah…right.”

“Thor…”

“No. You’re right. I should have remembered,” Thor answered honestly. “I’m thankful you helped at all.”

“It’s just…I have plans and—”

“No apology needed,” Thor kindly said, quickly grabbing Scraps and pulling her into a tight hug.

“Put me down you oaf!”

“Not a chance! A good hug always lasts at least ten seconds.”

Thor finally put her down and she punched him in the shoulder.

“That was definitely more than ten seconds.”

“A great hug lasts at least fifteen.”

Scraps just rolled her eyes and punched him in the shoulder again. “Whatever you say. Now, seeing as this is likely the last time I’ll see you alive, how about you hurry up and buy me dinner.”

“Of course. How could I forget.”

Scraps laughed, snatching up Thor’s car keys and hurrying out the door. As they settled in the car and she headed to whatever grease filled place fit her appetite that night, Thor asked, “Once you return home, do you think you’ll run into my father?”

“It’s possible. I know one of my sisters is working on a job for him.”

Thor winced.

“Yeah, basically my face when I found out. Though considering our lines of work, it makes since that we’d intersect at one point or another,” sighed Scraps. “Personally, I’m going to try and avoid him. But if I see your mom, I’ll give her your best, alright?”

“Thanks.”

“No need for that. I always liked your mom. Never understood how she could marry a guy like him though.”

“My mother likes to think they’re doing the best they can outside and inside the law. If my father is the weapon, then my mother’s the needle and thread that stitches up the wounded. They balance each other out, believe it or not.”

“I don’t believe it,” snorted Scraps. “But I heard your older sister is actually set to take over for your old man soon.”

Thor blinked in surprise.

“Have you really been that disconnected from your family that you didn’t hear? The underground is all buzzing about it back home.”

“I had no idea. What does Loki think of it?”

“I think he’s given up the throne so to speak. He’s probably figured out that he’d rather make it on his own than try and force himself into Odin’s place. He may talk like him sometimes but he’s not him. Word is he left after a fight too, so I guess you two aren’t as unalike as you thought.”

“Hmm…well I’m happy for him. Hopefully he’s chosen a better career path than me.”

“No, your career path was solid, if a little too goody-two-shoes. It’s this job that’s going to be the death of you.”

“Stop saying that. I’m not going to die.”

“Yeah, but let’s be real. What are the chances that we’ll ever see you again?”

“If I get put in a maximum security facility, you’ll just break me out.”

“I will most certainly not!”

“What are friends for?”

“Not that!”

Thor snorted, still smiling. “You’d never abandon me.”

“Oh yes I would you dumb mass of muscle! Damn it, I still don’t understand why you chose this kind of career of all things. Shouldn’t you be running an animal shelter or something? You’re too nice to be a criminal.”

“What can I say? I simply took what my father taught me and did the best that I could with it.”

“Well if you get out of this, rethink your career options,” groaned Scraps. She pulled into the drive thru, quickly ordering far too much food and snatching Thor’s wallet and grabbing a handful of cash. Once she’d thrown the two large paper bags back towards Thor, she drove off back to the motel and asked, “So what’s the game plan on the doctor? Are you going to trick him into helping you? Threaten him?”

“I think that’s more your area of expertise.”

“Well you’re not going to tell him the truth.”

“I think…I’m going to tell him the truth.”

“Oh my Allfather!”

“What?!”

“Listen Thor, you can be wonderfully naïve at times, but that’s just stupid. It’ll only put you in danger!”

“He seemed sad though.”

“Do not do the rabbit thing again.”

“This is completely different!” Thor defended.

“No, you picked a rabbit thinking it seemed lonely when we were kids and within a month, you had a full blown petting zoo!” yelled Scraps.

“I am not just going to start collecting a bunch of lonely scientists!”

“Good. Because I’m pretty sure you have to be lonely to be a scientist.”

Thor rolled his eyes again. “I’m being serious though. I think…perhaps if I act as a friend…”

“To trick him!”

“No! I mean it genuinely.”

“That’s what I was afraid of.”

“He’s intelligent in fields that I know hardly anything about. If things grow out of hand, he could become very helpful. And with you gone, I need someone to watch my back.”

Scraps rubbed her brow, clearly acknowledging Thor at least had somewhat of a point. “Fine. Just…would you mind giving me updates at least?”

“Ah. I knew you cared.”

“Sure. Just think whatever you want.”

Thor smiled and gently elbowed her. “I promise to keep you updated.”

She let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

“Thank you as well. I couldn’t have come this far without yours and the Valkyries’ help.”

* * *

Bruce let out a deep breath. He felt better today, partially because he had plans for once as well. If it had been plans with anyone else, Bruce probably would have tried to get out of them more than once and would be feeling more anxious than relaxed. However, Peter reminded him of when he was younger, the nerdy interests, the love of learning. He was a good kid and he liked the kid’s guardians and his friend Ned too. They were really the only acquaintances Bruce had now and the closest thing he could even think of calling friends.

Peter would probably be at his place again, only this time with Ned, saying hello to Hulk and ready to remind him of the dinner. Bruce put on a smile that didn’t feel so forced for once as he stepped out of his work building and—

“Dr. Banner. So we meet again.”

Bruce looked up, shocked to see the blonde haired man from yesterday. He just blinked, silent and waiting for whatever reason this man could have for stalking him.

“I was hoping we could speak.”

Bruce glanced at his watch. “I—”

“It would only take a moment.”

“I don’t even know your name,” Bruce replied.

“Of course. My apologies. My name is Thor. I should have introduced myself yesterday.”

Bruce just hummed. He honestly wasn’t that interested in whatever kind of pitch this man was going to sell him but he had gotten off early today—

“Please,” Thor quickly added.

Bruce couldn’t help but lean away. Whoever the guy worked for, they’d definitely picked the right man. The puppy dog eyes were impossible to look away from.

“I do have to—”

“Just ten minutes of your time,” Thor repeated.

Bruce checked his watch again. Considering when May typically made dinner, he definitely had time so… “Alright. Just a few minutes.”

“Thank you! There’s a coffee shop right around the corner.”

Bruce reluctantly started to follow the man though he still asked, “Can’t you just tell me here?”

“Think of it as my thank you for taking time for me,” Thor responded.

Bruce let out a tired sigh. He mentally prepared himself for whatever he was going to try and be sold. No matter what, he’d just say no, thank the man for the coffee, and then head home for a nice dinner. They arrived at the coffee shop, Bruce simply ordering a black coffee and following Thor to a table in the corner of the shop. He had a flashback to all his late nights researching, all the cups of black coffee downed. It had been a while since he’d needed that kind of energy.

“So how did you know my name?”

“I’ll be honest. This is going to sound weird but just hear me out.”

Bruce blinked in confusion. Alright, maybe this guy wasn’t selling him something. The worry must have shown on his face because Thor did his best attempt at appearing as cheerful and gentle as possible. Despite his size, Bruce couldn’t help but find himself buying into it. Though he could clearly be dangerous, Bruce suspected it wasn’t necessarily in the man’s nature, or at least not his first choice in most situations.

Bruce inclined his head, signaling he was ready to hear whatever weird, nonsensical thing the man was going to say.

“I’ve looked into you Dr. Banner. I know you work on Project Zodiac. Or at least used to.”

Bruce’s eyes widened as several pieces from yesterday snapped into place. He instinctively stood, knocking over his chair as he gasped out, “You stole my badge.”

“Please, Dr. Banner. Just let me further explain.”

Heart racing and eyes still wide, Bruce glanced at the café, at the eyes staring his way. He slowly took his chair, righted it, and sat back down. He did so not really because Thor asked, but because Bruce was now truly afraid of who Thor might be working for and who could be watching them from afar.

“You can’t know of that.”

“And yet I do,” Thor snorted. He seemed to realize his attempt at humor fell on deaf ears and he quickly changed to apologetic. “I must admit, this wasn’t planned.”

“You weren’t able to get what you wanted with my badge alone. What? What do you want with me?” Bruce bit out.

“Your help.”

Alright…so that wasn’t quite the demand Bruce was expecting. He’d figured he’d be asked for something more specific. But then, this entire situation had him confused. Besides not knowing how Thor could know of Project Zodiac, Bruce honestly didn’t understand why the man would be interested in it.

“What help? You realize what Zodiac is right? What good could it do you?”

Bruce watched as it was Thor’s turn to become confused. “What do you think Zodiac is?”

“What-what do I think it is-oh never mind!” It was too confusing and Bruce didn’t feel like bothering to understand all the pieces. He simply looked around and then quickly leaned in. “Zodiac is a project co-sponsored by the Midgardian government into a drug that could possibly not only regenerate people’s cells at a faster rate, allowing them to heal faster and more effectively, but also increase the individual’s strength and abilities. But I’m assuming you knew that,” Bruce hissed.

“Not…quite.”

“Not-not quite!?” Bruce angrily whispered. “What kind of…company spy are you if you don’t even know the basic outline of the project you’re after?”

“Because that’s not Project Zodiac’s true intent.”

A headache started to form at the base of Bruce’s skull. This was just too much. He felt like he’d stepped into his own Twilight Zone Episode. And it didn’t help that Thor, the guy who just moments ago had appeared like he knew what he was doing, now seemed as confused as Bruce.

“I worked on the damn project,” Bruce shot back. “I know what its purpose was! Or did you get the project wrong or the company wrong?”

“No I…I…alright look at this.” Thor reached into a bag that he’d had on him, pulling out a binder and quickly flipping through.

“Paper?”

“You can’t hack it,” Thor simply said before finding what he was looking for. He stopped and spun the binder around.

Bruce stared, eyes only growing wider as he looked at the recognizable documents, including his clearance to work on the project and security level within the government. He flipped through, finding more documents however. Collected research and reports that Bruce had never made, never seen. Going by what Bruce thought Zodiac was, what he was now reading should have been obvious signs of failure. Instead, the reports seemed to be hailing them as successes.

“This is a practical joke. It has to be,” Bruce whispered.

“I assure you, it’s not Dr. Banner. This is what Project Zodiac’s true purpose is. But I’m assuming now, you never knew that.”

“No,” Bruce whispered. Part of him couldn’t believe it-honestly didn’t want to-but he found his initial thoughts slowly disappearing. Now a cold dread was growing in the pit of Bruce’s stomach, dread and guilt as he saw what his research had really been used for.

And Thor…Bruce didn’t understand it. Why he felt that it was safe to trust the man and his gentle voice. He could be trying to play him, putting on a mask, but Bruce didn’t feel like that was right. Thor, whoever he was, didn’t want information on this project to reproduce it, to sell it. Project Zodiac was worrying Thor as much as it was now worrying Bruce.

He took a deep breath. He had no way of knowing what he was about to get into but now he had to ask. “And you said you needed my help?”


	2. Decisions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge thanks for those giving comments and kudos! I know, it's a weird AU but I'm really thankful there are people enjoying it and not just me. If you have questions about some of the characters backstories or relationships or the overall world in this, don't worry they'll be answered throughout the story. I just didn't want to throw everything in at the beginning like one huge exposition dump.
> 
> Also not sure how often I'll be able to update but I will try and write whenever I have a chance.
> 
> As for the number of chapters, I put up ten but it's a number that could easily change. I just like having a goal in mind, even if it's a loose one. Thank you again and I hope you enjoy <3

“Yes. The truth is, time is short and my original plan is unachievable since I wasn’t able to use your badge to get into the necessary labs,” Thor said.

Bruce rubbed his eyes again. By this point, he was probably just making the headache worse but he couldn’t help it. He was going over the documents again and again, re-reading the fine lines. The worst part wasn’t that his research was being twisted and turned inside out. The worst part was that Bruce’s name was over all of it. No wonder Thor had gone after him. Maybe since the incident the papers had changed, but according to what Thor had, Bruce _was_ in charge of all aspects of Project Zodiac.

“I’m the scapegoat,” Bruce whispered as he looked at falsified signatures and the repeated appearance of his name.

“It would seem so.”

Bruce collapsed against the table, covering up his face like somehow it would make the entire situation disappear. He couldn’t deal with this. He didn’t want to! He’d put everything he had into Project Zodiac, had lost so much because of it, and now to learn it was for nothing…the death on his hands was for nothing!

He didn’t know how long he sat there, head bowed and spirit broken, but he suddenly looked up again at feeling the warm hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry for bringing you into this Dr. Banner. But upon seeing this, you must realize you would have found yourself accused of a great many things you did not do,” Thor softly murmured. “Perhaps it is a good thing there is a chance to clear your name now.”

Bruce took a deep breath, forcing himself to sit up a little straighter and nod. Thor was trying to help. It didn’t change anything, but Bruce found his attempts at least appreciated. “You said time was short?” Bruce murmured.

“Add the of the next two weeks, I believe someone will come and steal the project, probably sell it to the higher bidder. Perhaps it doesn’t happen in two weeks, perhaps there are more complications that I haven’t uncovered, but our safest window is within two weeks.”

“And so you want to destroy the information before someone else can steal it.”

“Yes. If I can gain physical access to the network, I’ll be able to wipe all digital trace of it within that building and then destroy the physical.”

“I…what’s in this for you?”

Thor suddenly turned silent.

“Listen I need…if I do this, it’s pretty obvious why I’m helping you. People are going to be-more people are going to be hurt by my research. I don’t want that to happen. I can’t let it. But I can’t trust helping you will be better than helping anyone else unless I know what’s in this for you,” Bruce softly whispered.

“This isn’t my usual job.”

“Then what is?”

“I…I happened upon this by accident. Usually I just…I steal from the rich and help out the poor,” Thor finally mumbled. “I don’t usually risk messing with the government.”

For the first time in the whole conversation, Bruce found an unexpected smile and laugh escape his lips. “You’re Robin Hood?”

“Why does everyone say that?”

“Because that’s basically what you just said.”

“Well it’s the truth. And that’s what I get out of it. Alright? I just…I like helping people and when I heard of this being made, I knew it would do no one any good. If it gets into the wrong hands, there’s no telling who could be hurt by it.”

Bruce again tried to remind himself that Thor could be playing him. And honestly, if it was anyone else, then he’d probably think they were. But Thor was far too sincere and his puppy dog eyes seemed just too honest to not believe.

“So…?” Thor asked.

“I need to think about this. I’m sorry but it’s a lot to take in.”

“There’s not a lot of—”

“I know! Just…do you know where Central Park is? East side by the water?”

“I can find it.”

“Meet me there tomorrow morning at about seven thirty. Ok? I’ll have my answer by then.”

“Alright, that’s acceptable,” sighed Thor. “Thank you for listening to me, and I’m sorry again for dragging you into this Dr. Banner.”

“Considering just talking with you about all this could have me thrown into prison, I think Bruce is fine.”

Thor clasped one of Bruce’s hands with both of his own, smile warm though the seriousness of the situation was still clear on his face. “Then Bruce it is. Thank you again. Until we meet tomorrow.”

Bruce watched him pack up and leave, staying behind as he downed the remainder of his coffee and rubbed his eyes again. So many emotions were swirling through Bruce but the most prominent one was anger by far. Anger at himself.

He should have expected something like this coming from the military. He should have known Ross would have other plans for his research, that he’d want more than improving people’s overall well-being. But Bruce had been too obsessed with just trying to fine the key to everything, to succeeding. That’s what had gotten people hurt, his own obsession, and it had now allowed Ross to use his name and standing to hide Project Zodiac from the company and Bruce imagined parts of the military as well.

Even though he’d told Thor he’d have his answer by tomorrow, Bruce already had it. He couldn’t standby. No, he had asked Thor to wait because Bruce needed the time to truly see if it would be possible to break in. For the first time in a while, Bruce imagined it would be a very long night.

He slowly forced himself up and threw away his coffee cup. He bought another black coffee and headed outside. Bruce just barely noted how dark the sky was as he walked down the street and back to his car. His mind was already working on possible solutions, recalling all that he remembered of the lower levels and what had gone on down there.

Once home, he went to his couch and sat down, mind still stuck on the problem. He’d need to make a list, write down the blueprints of the levels, what little he could remember. And the security measures, what systems had they used? How many guards? He’d worked late nights often enough. He needed to remember how many personnel were down there at regular hours and late into the night—

“Dr. Banner!”

Bruce jolted, feeling a body barrel into him. Hulk barked loudly-Hulk! Bruce had completely forgotten about him, and he hadn’t met him at the door meaning Peter had probably had him at his apartment, and—the dinner! Damn it. Bruce had completely forgotten. But Peter…

He forced himself to focus on the reality of the situation, not just analyzing it. And Peter was…crying? He looked up and saw the kid’s guardians and friend, faces wrought with relief.

“Peter…”

“I-I’m sorry,” the kid quickly got out. He moved back, sitting on his knees as he wiped at his eyes. “It’s just-Aunt May said it was probably someone else but-you weren’t picking up your phone and you were really late and there was an accident nearby and it looked like your car-it could have been anyone but I kept thinking and just—”

Bruce looked at his watch, eyes widening as he realized just how late it was. “Peter I’m…I’m…everyone I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to worry any of you.”

“It’s alright Dr. Banner,” Ben gruffly said. “We’re just happy to see you safe and alive.”

“Yeah, we were seriously freaking out!” Ned said. “Peter started crying!”

“I did not!”

“You’re tearing up right now!”

“Oh, yeah.”

“I’m sorry I upset you. I really am,” Bruce quickly got in, pulling Peter back into a hug. “Things just got…out of control at work.”

“Bruce,” May gently said taking a step forward. “Is everything alright?”

“What?! Yes, of course yeah! It’s…it’s fine. I’m fine. Just…tired.”

May gave him a look that said she didn’t buy it but instead of arguing, she smiled. “Perhaps some dinner would help. I’ll throw it in the microwave and it’ll be good as new.”

“I don’t want to impose—”

“Naw, we were all to worried to eat,” Ned said with a wave of his hand. “Well mostly. I may have snuck a roll or two.”

“I knew it!” Peter shouted. He jumped up and playfully punched his friend, Ben rolling his eyes and May still smiling.

“I insist,” she added.

Considering how quickly his world was going to hell, Bruce decided that one more moment of normalness would be alright. “Food actually sounds wonderful right now.”

“Perfect. I’ll go heat it up.”

May led the way back to their apartment, Hulk quick to follow on Bruce’s heals. He felt bad for completely forgetting about him and made sure to rub his head extra, the growls becoming a bit fonder by the moment.

The dinner was good and just as promised, Ned had plenty of questions written down and prepared for him. It wasn’t what Bruce had been hoping for, Thor and Project Zodiac constantly stuck in the back of his head, but he managed to enjoy himself. It helped that Ned didn’t understand what silence was and Peter was quick to keep talking in the hopes of keeping the mood up.

When it came time to say goodnight, Peter walked him back over to his apartment. He hugged him again, the kid showing just how relieved he was. “Sorry if I-well you know overreacted a bit. It’s just-it’s stupid but you’re like another uncle to me and just—”

“I’m sorry I worried you Peter. I should have paid closer attention to the time.”

“I’m just happy you’re ok. Oh! And I took Hulk out and fed him and everything though uh…you probably guessed that.”

“Thank you for doing that as well,” Bruce said. “I’m sure Hulk appreciated it.”

“No problem Dr. Banner. I’ll see you later?”

“Of course Peter. Have a good night.”

Bruce gave a little wave, his smile only dropping once he’d shut his door. Hulk growled, his wet nose pushing at his hand until he softly petted him again.

“I suppose you do deserve a treat after what I did today. Come on.”

Bruce grabbed a bone from one of the cabinets and gently handed it to Hulk. Better not to throw anything, even at a short distance while inside. Bruce had seen firsthand the destruction Hulk was only too happy to cause.

With Hulk sated and curled up in a corner, Bruce went to his printer and grabbed a stack of white paper. He closed his eyes, forcing himself to think back to the lab. Of course the unwanted thoughts came with it but he tried not to focus on the emotional aspects. Directions, number of hallways, position of the elevators. How many doors were unlocked? How many required card keys?

When Bruce opened his eyes, his hand moved instinctively. He wasn’t much of an artist so he went for simple and direct. He made lists of numbers and names, sketched the halls and lab placement. He was sure some of his information would cross over with Thor’s but he focused just on getting everything down instead.

The only times he paused was to grab more coffee, Hulk eventually falling asleep and not causing a bother thankfully.

Bruce continued on, the papers only increasing until Bruce’s hand froze. That…was it. That was all that would come to him. He started organizing them better, stapling them and putting them into folders when Hulk suddenly bumped into him and nearly caused him to fall.

“Hey! I fed…oh. Damn, it’s been a while since this happened.” Bruce shook his head, suddenly becoming aware of the ache in his bones and just how dry his eyes were. Glancing at the light filtering through his window, he murmured, “I suppose it’s about time for that meeting. Just give me a second Hulk.”

The dog growled as Bruce threw some food into his bowl and then hurried to the shower. He’d stayed up all night. All he could do was hope all the information he’d gathered would be helpful. It was time to meet Thor.

* * *

Scraps was smirking from ear to ear, never a good sign. “My flight isn’t until this afternoon. I’ll keep an eye from above.”

Thor face-palmed. “I appreciate the concern, but you saw his image. He’s not exactly a threat.”

“Doesn’t mean he didn’t call someone. You could suddenly find yourself walking into the hands of a bunch of undercover cops,” Scraps said.

“And exactly what are you going to do if that happens?”

“Oh you know, maybe fire some warning shots. Create a distraction so you can get away.”

“That was…much more realistic than I was expecting.”

“See? This is why we’ve stayed friends. Because you are too nice and I am perfectly practical.”

“If you say so,” Thor disbelievingly mumbled.

“And don’t worry. I know the perfect vantage point for the area.”

“Wait? Truly? When did you have time—”

“I did it last night while you were asleep.”

Thor covered his face again. “Of course you did.”

Scraps punched his shoulder and he finally looked down again only to have her give him a quick kiss on the cheek. “If all goes well, this will probably be the last time I see you for a while so…good luck.”

“You too and—”

“I’ll give your best to your mother. I know. If I hear word where Loki’s gone, I’ll send it your way too, alright?”

“And I’ll keep you updated.”

“Sounds good to me. See you later Thor.”

“Good bye.”

Scraps left first while Thor waited until it reached seven o’clock to get going. He had looked up directions and studied maps of the area last night. He got there early and began wondering back and forth, quickly figuring out where Scraps was probably camped out. There was some building that had been transformed into a museum and tourist trap right by the water. She would have had to break in (an easy feat for her), and a quick flash of metal from the roof proved Thor right.

He shook his head, a bemused smile appearing on his face that he was sure Scraps could see from her outpost.

Walking a large birth of that side of the park, Thor kept the water in sight and looked around for Bruce. He’d gotten there early, but he couldn’t help the knot forming in his stomach. He hated to admit it, but he needed the help. If he had a whole team, this would be a completely different situation. And the Valkyrie had helped immensely but once their combined efforts had gotten him the information he’d asked for, they’d backed off. Not that Thor could blame them. They hadn’t been paid for their work and loyalty and history only went so far in the underground.

Bruce would likely be valuable in more ways than one and Thor needed the help—

“Oomph!”

“Hulk!”

Thor slammed to the ground unexpectedly. He looked up at the drooling, growling face of a St. Bernard. He tried to offer his hand but as the dog only growled louder, Thor relented and let his hand fall back to the pavement. He glanced over, surprised to see Bruce of all people skidding to a stop and gasping for air. “Hulk…get…off. Now.”

Hulk growled again.

“I thought we’d been over this!” Bruce whined, his breathing finally evening out. He grabbed hold of the leash and tugged, not that it changed anything. “You can’t just jump everyone you don’t like.”

The dog glanced down at Thor and only growled again.

“Please.”

Thor was pretty sure the dog could only growl, or only liked to, as he made the noise again and slowly removed himself from Thor. Thor tried to offer his hand again as he sat up but Hulk only glared (if that was even possible for a dog).

“Don’t look so wounded. He dislikes pretty much everyone,” Bruce groaned as he stepped forward and offered his hand.

“Thank you,” Thor sighed as he began to brush his clothes off. Now that there wasn’t a large creature pinning him to the floor, Thor took note of the circles under Bruce’s eyes and his unkempt hair. His voice instinctively softened and he asked, “Are you alright?”

“What-me? Weren’t you just on the ground a few seconds ago?”

“I’ve had far worse fights,” Thor chuckled before growing serious once more. “But you look quite tired. Are you ok?”

"I didn’t sleep much last night,” Bruce admitted.

“I’m sorry if what I’ve told you was the cause of such a troubled night.”

“No! I mean…it was troubled but not because of that. Um…” he quickly looked around until he spotted a bench. “Here, I’ll show you what I’ve been working on.”

Thor followed him over. He kept a respectful distance from the dog which Hulk seemed to appreciate as he sat by the bench. Bruce tied the leash to the armrest as Thor sat next to him.

“Not the most well behaved dog, is he?” chuckled Thor.

“No,” sighed Bruce. “His idea of fun is destroying everything in his path.”

Though he said it with a tired sigh, Thor could tell there was a definite since of fondness for the animal, made more obvious as Bruce patted him a few times before opening a bag he’d brought with him.

“Allfather,” cursed Thor.

“I thought you sounded Asgardian,” Bruce mused as he recognized the common Asgardian curse. He pulled out the collection of folders and opened one. “You know, for a criminal you do a terrible job of hiding in plain sight.”

“Typically I stay behind my laptop. It’s rare that I’m in the field so to speak,” Thor responded. “I take it this means you’ve agreed to help?”

Bruce nodded and offered up the papers. Thor took the first set of stabled pages, eyes widening as he looked at the hand drawn blueprints. “How did you get a hold of these?”

Bruce tapped the side of his head.

Thor couldn’t help but smile with wonder. “Really?”

Bruce nodded.

“I’m impressed. I could never find blueprints, neither my friends. Nothing this concrete anyways. I imagine they were destroyed, or even if I did find them, there’d be so many contradicting ones, it would have done me no good,” Thor said. He started going through them, seeing just how many under ground floors there were.

On level four, Bruce stopped him. “This is where I typically worked and where the physical evidence will likely be. There are computers there though you’ll also be able to access the buildings network earlier on level two as well. I had access up to floor six and I know of a seventh floor below that. Another administrative area.”

“Is it possible the building goes even deeper?”

“No. I know it only has seven levels but I won’t lie. There could be rooms and places within those levels that I never entered and just never knew of.”

“Hmm, well it’s better than nothing. With this we can come up with a proper plan of attack.”

“Were you really going to wing it?” asked Bruce.

“No!” Thor defended. Bruce just raised an eyebrow. “If I’d gotten in the original way I would have found a terminal and uploaded my formed virus…and then looked…well hope that I got into the labs and…yeah. Ok I was totally going to wing it.”

“You were just going to break in and see how it went!?” cried Bruce.

“What? I’m not used to-don’t laugh!” Thor pouted as he watched Bruce switch from pure shock to almost hysterical.

“I’m-I’m sorry. It’s just…god this is insane.” Bruce wiped at his face as Hulk softly growled at his feet.

“And yet you still haven’t turned away,” Thor added with a roll of his eyes. “I suppose that means we’re both crazy.”

Bruce chuckled at that and quickly started talking about what else he’d written down. However, Thor wasn’t fully listening as questions appeared in his head. He chewed at his lip, uncertain if he should bring up one of the bigger questions on his mind. Bruce had already done so much and Thor knew he’d made the right decision now. He didn’t want to involuntarily push the man away, but he was too curious for his own good. He wanted to know what had led to his original plan failing. “Why were you taken off the project?”

Bruce’s own ease and excitement disappeared. It was like watching a switch being hit. Bruce turned away to avoid looking at Thor. He anxiously wrung his hands, his shoulders slumping.

Immediately feeling guilty for causing the change, Thor gently took his shoulder, urging Bruce to look at him. “Just as you wanted to know my reason, if it’s alright with you, I’d like to truly know yours. You told me you had to do this because you didn’t want more people to get hurt. More.”

“I did,” Bruce softly admitted.

Thor was careful with his voice, again not wanting to appear that he was forcing Bruce to answer. “What happened?” he murmured.

Silence washed over them, long enough that Thor wondered if Bruce would ever say. However, after a heavy sigh he started talking.

“I was trying something new and miscalculated,” whispered Bruce. “I…in hindsight, I’m sure Ross was thrilled. The cells reproduced too quickly. It would heal the subject but then it wouldn’t stop. The energy produced caused…it caused the subject to explode. I blew up a lab because of my mistake, got a technician killed and…and so many people hurt—that bastard!”

Thor jolted as Bruce stood up, utterly fuming.

“What?” Thor jumped to his feet too, grabbing hold of Bruce and spinning him back to look at him.

“He didn’t throw me off the project because of my mistake! He did it because I was too stupid to get with the picture! Argh!”

“Wait. What do you—”

“Human testing! He wanted to just move on to the next phase and I was too dumb to not realize why. I thought he was insane! The drug went too far but as far as Ross was concerned, it was starting to do exactly what he’d hoped. He didn’t want to keep an eye on me because he was afraid I might sell what I knew to another company. He did it because he didn’t want the enemy to get their hands on this kind of technology too!”

“The enemy? Midgard isn’t at war though.”

“He’s a general whose nickname is ‘Thunderbolt’,” Bruce said with a deadpanned tone. “I’m pretty sure in his mind, everyone and anyone could be the enemy.”

“Point taken.”

Thor sat with a thud, Bruce joining him. Thor hadn’t realized just how close Zodiac was to being complete. Maybe it already was. “I imagine they’ve been taking your research on how to rapidly reproduce cells without risk of excessively shortening telomeres and expending cellular energy, and have been reverse engineering it to make sure the cells reach a point where they are growing without replicating leading them to break, and thus explode. Only by pure accident, you seem to have found that solution for them, as long as they can successfully take the accident and replicate it.”

“I…well yes.”

As Bruce looked at him in shock, Thor couldn’t help but smile. “Not just a pretty face.”

“I didn’t think you-that is-I didn’t mean to—”

“No, I’m glad I’ve managed to impress you some. I am knowledgeable in some aspects, but it’s certainly not my area of traditional skills. What else did you manage to remember?”

Bruce quickly went through his bag again. “Here. I was one of the few people to actually work late at night so I know there’s typically a maximum of ten lab and administrative workers at that time. It should be much easier to avoid them but the guards are another matter. I can’t say for sure exactly how many there are because I’m sure they moved around, but there was typically a security guard or military man in nearly every hall.”

“Hmm, a distraction might be the best way to move them,” Thor murmured. “Is the same type of security system used down there as for the above ground levels?”

“No, it’s a bit out dated. I suppose because the research there wasn’t completely sanctioned, or maybe it was just because the military was running it and didn’t trust the public contractor our company had. Either way they use Stark Tech—”

Thor let out an uproarious laugh, unable to contain his mirth. Finally, some news that would make the job easier.

“Not that I mean to discredit your skills,” Bruce slowly said, “but you do know who Stark is, right?”

“Of course. But he ended his contract with the military quite some time ago. His latest systems and tech are certainly above my skills, but if the military is still holding onto the older models, then it will be quite easy to crack.”

“Really?”

“Again, not just a pretty face.”

“Alright, I believe you,” chuckled Bruce. “But I’ve given you quite a bit. Now I want to know about this thief that will supposedly strike in a little less than two weeks.”

“He’s a ghost on the underground. The closest thing to a name I have is Red.”

“Are you sure this is even a real person?”

“Trust me, the underground teaches you to take everything you hear seriously, no matter how ridiculous it may sound,” sighed Thor. “From what I’ve seen, Red will show up on any side. They won’t backstab you once a deal has been finalized but he’s quick to change to the higher bidder before that. His origin is unknown and little is known about his appearance. Only that he’s not afraid to leave casualties behind.”

Bruce gulped.

“I’ve been cross-referencing mentions of Red being in Midgard along with talk of a new chemical weapon made by the Midgardian military. I’ve managed to find minimal mention of the actual name Zodiac, but it’s out there and a lot of bad people would gladly get their hands on it. If Red gets the project and sells it before we get there though, there’s a good chance it’ll disappear completely—”

Thor stopped midsentence as his phone rang. Very few people actually knew his number, partially because he changed it so often. He picked it up and recognized Scraps’ number. He glanced over to her outpost before answering. “Yes?”

“Alright, he’s a damn dork and clearly as insane as you seeing as he’s agreed to all of this. If you both get caught, don’t say I didn’t warn you because I did. At least nine times.”

“Oh, I’d say only eight.”

“Nine. And you’re an idiot.”

“I think you’re supposed to wish me good luck again.”

“I did that earlier this morning. And you’re an idiot,” she repeated, hanging up before Thor could argue. He blinked in surprise at the black screen before finally letting out a small snort and pocketing the phone again.

“Who was that?” asked Bruce.

“A friend. She wanted to keep an eye on me in case you called the cops-not that I thought you would! She’s just not the most trustworthy of people.”

“Considering what we’re doing, some caution is understood. Is she one of the people who helped you get the information you have now?”

Thor nodded. “She has her own jobs and people she needs to watch out for, but if we find ourselves at a wall, I imagine she’d still come to help. Even if she’d complain along the way.”

Bruce smiled at that. It sounded like Thor knew her well but he pulled back from asking anything. Despite how open Thor was, Bruce imagined there were aspects that weren’t welcomed buttons to push and he wanted to stay on his good side.

“So what now?” Bruce asked.

“We start forming a plan. When—”

“I’m off today. We can start now. I just need to walk Hulk back. Um…where should we meet?”

“I’ll give you the address to the motel I’m staying at since all my equipment is there,” Thor quickly wrote it down and passed it to Bruce before standing. “I’ll see you soon. Bye Hulk.” He leaned over trying to be welcoming. He got a little closer this time but Hulk still growled and Thor politely backed off. “You’ll warm up to me soon. I know it boy.”

Hulk gave a disbelieving growl as Thor headed off and Bruce untied the leash. With everything packed, Bruce and Hulk walked back to his apartment. Bruce made sure to send a text to Peter about asking to check on Hulk that afternoon. He felt bad about doing it considering the past few days, but Bruce had no idea how long he and Thor would talk and better to plan ahead than risk Hulk being hungry that afternoon.

With that finished, he quickly headed down to his car. He looked up directions to the motel on his phone and began driving down the road. Arriving there, Bruce wasn’t exactly impressed. However, he supposed a career criminal wasn’t going to be staying in five-star suites.

He sat there for a moment, knuckles white against the steering wheel. This was really it. Despite his demeanor, Bruce certainly wasn’t one of those people who had never broken the law or a rule in his life. But this was still different. Doing this would count as outright treason if he was caught.

But then he thought of Betty and the other technicians, of Rick and how he’d gotten him killed because he’d unwittingly played into Ross’ hands. It wasn’t right and it wasn’t fair but perhaps Bruce could change that.

With a heavy heart, Bruce made surprisingly one of the easiest decisions of his life and got out of the car.


	3. Planning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge thank you again for the kudos and comment! I've really started to form the plot of this story in my head and I think I know where it's going. Thanks again and I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

“Alright,” said Thor, “the first thing we need to do is figure out how we’re going to gain access to the lower levels. I could simply hack them once we’re there, but I think I have a faster method in mind."

Since there was only one chair in the motel room, Bruce found himself sitting in it, more comfortable there than anywhere else. Thor sat on one of the two beds, legs crossed and hunched over his laptop. He’d tied his hair back though some strands had already come loose.

The place was surprisingly cluttered but still organized with Thor’s equipment carefully placed throughout the room.

“What’s the other method?” asked Bruce.

“I’ll need to steal the badge of one of your colleagues.”

“What?!”

“If I do, I can reproduce you a keycard that will access the lower floors.”

“That’s nice and all, but if we’re seen walking in, which we undoubtedly will due to the guard at the front desk, they’re going to ask what I’m doing there. What we’re both doing there.”

“The day before this happens, I’ll go in the same way I managed to get in the day we met. I’ll connect to their network and have it set to create and run a loop of several minutes for that night once I initiate it. When we walk in that night, we’ll pull a ruse, that you got your old job back, that you need to catch up on the project and work late. Something along those lines. And before we have to worry about our story being second guessed, the loop will be initiated and then I’ll knock him out.”

“There’s usually at least three separate guards in the lobby at night.”

“I can handle that.”

Bruce rolled his eyes. He supposed he should have seen that coming. And it wasn’t like there was a backdoor they could sneak through. “Perhaps that will work. Though I am curious. If you can hack the security cameras, why didn’t you do that before?”

“I have done it. But just as the security systems are different, the networks are also different.”

“And just another reason why your original plan didn’t work,” sighed Bruce. Thor nodded. “I’m sure the secondary network will have its own connection to the security cameras in the lobby though. What about that?”

“It’s a risk we’ll have to take but hopefully that will be where the distraction comes in.”

“You mean the one that will hopefully get most of the security guards to move from their standard positions.”

“Yes,” grinned Thor.

“And exactly what kind of distraction do you have for that?”

“Explosions.”

Bruce blinked in surprise. “You sound far too excited about that.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll make sure the structural integrity of the building isn’t ever put in danger. We’ll just need the explosions to be big enough to disrupt some systems, maybe make the lights flicker, crack some walls, maybe bring down the ceiling of one of the empty office spaces, something simple like that.”

“Something simple,” Bruce muttered with a roll of his eyes.

“I know of a few places where I can get my hands on the proper explosives.” Thor started talking about several websites that he knew of but Bruce wasn’t really listening. He’d originally gone into this, knowing that if he got caught he’d likely be tried for treason, but now he saw it wasn’t that simple.

Even if successful, things wouldn’t go back to normal. Besides the countless moments where Bruce could be caught on camera or seen by a witness, he was also getting involved in a way that he was sure police would track down. He was leaving his old life behind him with these choices and if that was the case, then he might as well go head first into the deep end.

Interrupting Thor, Bruce said, “I’d feel more comfortable making the device.”

Now it was Thor’s turn to be shocked. “You want to make the bomb?!”

“Not that I don’t trust the black market, but I would feel much safer being in control of the potency of our explosive.”

“So you could actually do it?”

Bruce gave him a deadpanned stare.

“My apologies. I didn’t realize I was offending your intelligence,” chuckled Thor. “Will you need help in getting supplies?”

Bruce’s face didn’t change except for the arch of an eyebrow.

“I apologize again,” Thor said, full on laughing. “I assume you won’t need help getting this makeshift bomb past security either then.”

Bruce shook his head. “When we have a date set, I should be able to plant them the day before. Obviously we won’t want to be there to set them off so I will need help making a remote detonator.”

“So now you need my help.”

“Thor…”

“Don’t worry, it’s not an issue,” Thor grinned. “Now back to the keycard…”

“You said it would be fastest if we stole one?”

“Yes, do you know of any co-worker that remained with the project after you left?”

“Dr. Samuel Sterns. He’s the only one I’m certain stayed and I know he had the same level of clearance as me. I have a general idea where he lives but I only went to his home once. I’m not sure of the address.”

“That’s fine. I should be able to find his address with his name alone. I won’t be able to do this right away. I’ll have to get some materials and…” Thor trailed off, mumbling to himself as he thought through the plan.

It was amusing watching Thor become so concentrated on the problem. Bruce imagined he looked quite similar when he was bent over a lab table. Still, he couldn’t just sit there watching Thor mumble to himself all day and Bruce eventually interrupted him. “How long should it take?”

“Oh. Well…three days tops if I include the time needed to get some of the materials. I may be able to do it sooner but I wouldn’t count on it. And the bomb?”

“Perhaps a week,” Bruce honestly said. He had to take into account that he did have a job (for now) and that— “Scratch that,” Bruce quickly muttered as an idea came to his head. “Make that five. Maybe four. I’ll take some vacation days, or sick days whatever, so I can continuously work on it. Better to finish a bomb as quickly as possible rather than leave it sitting partially finished for hours on end.”

“Then we should be able to get this done within a week,” Thor said with a satisfied sigh.

“There’s just one problem,” Bruce murmured. “I need somewhere to actually make the bomb. I trust myself to be able to do this. I could do it with one hand tied behind my back with ease. But I can’t risk having that kind of equipment near Hulk. If something happened to him…or my neighbors…”

“I think I have a compromise for us,” Thor smiled. “I was planning on leaving tomorrow, best not to stay in the same place for long in this line of business. I’ve rented out a storage facility on the other side of the city so I’d have more space for work. And not have to worry about making too much of a ruckus. Not exactly meant for sleeping but it’ll work for a week.”

“And you’d be alright if I started my work there as well?”

Thor nodded.

“Then the only thing left to do is to try and plan out the exact route we’re going to take once in and possible backup plans so this will…hopefully run as smoothly as possible.”

This was good, better than Bruce had expected. It was especially clear now that Thor was a professional and Bruce couldn’t help but wonder how he’d gotten into this line of business. It didn’t seem to suit him but Bruce’s mental analysis was stopped as Thor began to move. He put his laptop to the side and sat on the edge of the bed, putting a hand on Bruce’s shoulder. Bruce looked from the hand and back to Thor’s face, confusion peppering his own.

“Even if this plan should run smoothly…it doesn’t mean there won’t be consequences,” Thor murmured. “Should we get away with our plan successful, you will still—”

“I know,” Bruce sighed. “I wasn’t born yesterday.”

“What you’re risking—”

“Is nothing. I risk far more if I don’t help you,” interrupted Bruce. “In small quantities, Zodiac is dangerous enough. But if someone mass produced it, got it into food, used it for assassination or crowd control, ended up finding a way to make an aerosol version of it, if it got out and innocent citizens got hurt because of something that I started…then I…I can’t risk that. I know that when you say there’s no going back…there isn’t. Not here in Midgard at least. They’ll know I was involved whether we make a clean getaway or not.”

“But—”

“Thor, if we could not only destroy this but leak it to the Midgardian government, make them see what Ross is doing behind others’ backs, ruin his career, get a pardon for our crimes, then that would be great. But I’m not holding out hope for that. I just want Zodiac destroyed and people safe from my mistakes.”

“And what of Hulk?”

That was honestly one of the most difficult things Bruce knew he’d have to come to terms with but he’d get through it nonetheless. “I know I wouldn’t be able to take him with me. I already know of someone that would be only too glad to take care of him.”

Thor let out a tired sigh. He leaned back but still remained close, trying to be of some comfort. “I shouldn’t have brought you into this. It’ll ruin your life.”

“Now you’re having second thoughts?”

“No. You’ve already proved you’ll be of great use to this but…we can get the bomb in another way. You don’t have to come with me—”

“You and I both know it will be more effective if I’m there with you. If you can access the networks, upload your virus, and I find the physical material. It’ll be easier for me to plant the bomb as well and you know even if I wasn’t spotted by anyone and you managed to destroy all CTV footage, they’d connect the dots eventually.”

“Yes…they probably would,” sighed Thor. “Then if you are sure…”

“I am.”

“Then just know, whatever the outcome, I’ll help you with the fallout. I wouldn’t leave you on your own after all that you’ve done to help me.”

To be honest, despite their short time together, Bruce wasn’t surprised by Thor’s generosity. The man seemed to be an open book once you talked to him for a few minutes. However, hearing the promise out loud was still nice and Bruce appreciated the effort.

“Thank you.”

Thor did that soft smile that Bruce was starting to get used to before leaning back and saying, “Then I suppose it’s time to best plan out our path once inside.”

Bruce nodded and started going to work, using his hand drawn blueprints to plan their entrance and escape. The day wore on like Bruce had suspected. He would have forgotten to eat if Thor hadn’t mentioned it and then ordered food. Then before he knew it, the sun had disappeared outside.

“I probably need to get back home,” Bruce admitted with a tired sigh. “We made some decent headway though.”

“We did. Thank you again Bruce.”

“Are you just constantly going to thank me every time I’m here?” chuckled Bruce.

“I don’t see a reason not to,” Thor smiled.

“So, this place you’ve rented out, I’ll meet you there tomorrow?”

“Acceptable for me. Here, I’ll write down the address.”

With their next meeting set, Bruce finally said his goodbyes before heading home. He felt odd after everything that had gone down. He felt like he should have been more upset about everything being turned upside down, for throwing away his life as some might have put it. However, once he arrived home, he didn’t feel that sense of loss.

Ross needed to be stopped, Zodiac needed to be stopped, and for the first time Bruce was thankful for his lack of attachments. But as he finally walked into his apartment, he was reminded of the two that would break his heart the most and the tears began to run before he could stop them, the resolution inside him disappearing.

Peter lay asleep on the couch, Hulk passed out on top of him. The two didn’t wake, though Hulk’s ear did twitch. Bruce made sure to cover his mouth so as to remain quiet, guilt wracking him as he knew he’d have to leave them behind. It didn’t change things. He knew he still had to do this. If kids got hurt because of Zodiac, if Peter or Peter’s family got hurt because of Zodiac, Bruce would never forgive himself.

He didn’t have a choice because risking Zodiac getting into the wrong hands was unthinkable.

Remaining quiet, Bruce slowly moved passed the two and to his own bedroom. Peter had slept over a few times when his aunt and uncle were both out of town, and also on days when both had gotten too involved in a discussion about science and Peter had passed out. Bruce felt it was better to let him sleep, and he didn’t need the kid seeing his tears either.

Bruce was still resolute in his decision as he got into bed, but the pain in his chest seemed to beat in time with his heart as the tears silently continued.

* * *

Thor had already managed to locate Samuel Sterns’ home the day before. He’d staked it out that night to get a sense of the size, what security system he had, and the man’s nightly routine. It would have been better to view his comings and goings over a few days if not even a week, but considering the time constraints, Thor would have to make do with what he’d seen. He’d go back tonight and steal the keycard. Last night, Sterns had hung it up with his coat. Hopefully he’d do it again and Thor wouldn’t have to go through his entire house in search of it.

Now he was busy setting up his equipment and getting everything connected. Compared to the small motel room, the new structure was quite spacious. Considering the time of year and that the place wasn’t meant to be lived in, the nights would be cold and Thor would need to find a place to take a shower like a gym or something. However, it was a small price to pay to be able to work to his heart’s desire.

He had almost everything set up by twelve when Bruce showed up with bags under his arms.

“You can begin setting up over there,” Thor said. “Just let me finish this.”

Thor didn’t look up until he was done, and as he did his lips twitched into a frown. Bruce looked just as exhausted as he had the day before. Perhaps it was just his usual expression but Thor had a feeling that something was wrong.

Before he could think of how to broach the subject, Bruce said, “I bought lunch. Only seemed right since you ordered for us yesterday.”

“Thank you,” Thor said as Bruce handed him a bag. He grabbed a chair and sat near to him, jumping right into questions of the plan and if Thor had found Sterns’ place.

They talked a bit about that, Thor mentioning he would try to steal the man’s keycard that night. They then went on to revise parts of their plan, deciding that detonating the bomb right before the video loop started and before Bruce and Thor entered the building would hopefully buy them more time. Considering in the event of an incident the elevator wasn’t meant to be used, it meant they wouldn’t have to worry about anyone riding up or down in it.

With small hitches like that ironed out and the food Bruce had brought eaten, they separated again to work on their respective parts of the plan. After several hours, Thor was confidant he’d be able to begin recoding Bruce’s keycard to allow access to the lower levels. He’d just need Sterns’ keycard to start the process.

Looking towards Bruce, Thor could see he had prepared some of the materials and gotten at least part of the equipment set up and would likely finish it before night was there. However, that one glance told Thor that the man needed a distraction. He watched how his mood changed in almost a blink of an eye, full concentration changing to anguish. The bland expression Bruce had been holding changed to a frown and eyes shut tight. Thor imagined it was easy for the man to get lost in his head and considering everything that was happening, Thor doubted it was the healthiest path.

One quick sweep of the place and it was clear that there wasn’t much to do but an idea managed to come to Thor’s mind. He walked over to Bruce, clearing his throat to make him realize he was there.

When Bruce finally looked up, Thor put on a friendly smile and said, “What do you know of self defense?”

Bruce blinked in confusion before glancing down at himself and then back up at Thor. “I think your question answers itself.”

“Then now is the perfect time to learn. You look like you could use a break.”

“Well I still need to—”

“There’s still plenty of time to finish that today. Come,” Thor insisted, taking a few steps back and giving room for Bruce to follow. When he didn’t immediately stand, Thor smiled and gestured with his hand. “It could prove useful in the coming days.”

Bruce sighed with clear doubt in his eyes but stood and walked over.

Thor threw off his jacket and stretched. “I haven’t sparred with anyone in some time.”

“In that case, I think I’ll act more as a punching bag than anything.”

“No need for that Bruce. I suppose sparring was somewhat the wrong word. Think of this as a teaching exercise,” Thor smiled. “If we come into contact with guards, it will be best if you know some basic pointers.”

“And I’ll just somehow absorb all of this within a week,” Bruce sarcastically replied.

“You never know until you try. First make a fist.”

Bruce did so and Thor gently took his hand, slightly adjusting it for better form. “Not bad. You wouldn’t believe how many people stick their thumbs out.”

“I may not be built like you but I know enough human biology to know that that’s a bad idea,” snorted Bruce.

“Then I assume you know the weak points on a person’s body.”

Bruce thought about it for a second and then nodded.

“And how it’s easier to redirect energy rather than stop it.”

“Yes.”

“Well that’s what we’re going to do. Along with seeing how well you punch,” Thor smiled. “Hit me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Whatever you do, I’m sure I’ve dealt with far worse.”

Bruce rolled his eyes but clenched his hands into fists all the same. Thor opened up his arms and readied himself for the hit. To be perfectly honest, he wasn’t surprised by the very well placed target and he was only mildly surprised by the force behind it. As air left his lungs, Thor doubled over with a gasp.

“Shit! I’m sorry! I just—”

“No, that was good. The solar plexus is an excellent target,” Thor breathlessly laughed as he stood up again. He took a few shallow breaths before he got his air back and straightened. “Now, that was good but remember, you’re not likely to have that much of an opening or time to be able to get in a well aimed hit like that.”

“Hence the need to know how to redirect.”

“Exactly. So, when I punch next, I want you to move your hands like this,” said Thor. Bruce mimicked him a few times before Thor held out his slow punch. Bruce didn’t quite get it as he mixed up his hands the first few times. “Hold on.” Thor stopped and tried to walk around. Bruce tried to turn with him but Thor turned him back to the way he’d been facing. “No, just stay there,” he chuckled.

Thor then got behind Bruce, taking his wrists and moving them through the motions. “Just like this. And after doing that, make sure you step out and away to give you a wide enough birth.” Stopping to move back around, Thor held out another punch. “Here. Try again.”

This time Bruce did a little better. Thor waited until he became more consistent and then picked up the speed.

“Good. Let’s see about something a little different,” Thor said as he took a step back. “So again, it’s doubtful they’ll just be standing their trying to punch you. There will be more movement involved.”

Bruce gave him a doubtful look but Thor just kept up his smile.

“Don’t worry. I’ll go easy. This would be an example.”

Thor did a faux lunge, a chuckle escaping his lips as Bruce fumbled with the unexpected motion.

“I’m not sure I’ll ever get this,” Bruce mumbled.

“Nonsense. It’ll just take time. Again.”

Thor went slowly, constantly thinking about his movements and just how difficult it would be for Bruce to block it. He wanted to give the doctor a slight challenge but not something so difficult that he felt discouraged.

Before it could get too repetitive, Thor finally backed off and Bruce paused. “Good job.”

“You’re just saying that.”

“What? Not at all,” Thor laughed as he put a hand to his heart in mock hurt. “You are starting to get the motions down but don’t worry, should it come to it, I’ll try my best to step in between you and any guards.”

“Thanks,” snorted Bruce, a smile finally breaking over his face.

Pleased that he’d successfully distracted him and gotten Bruce to smile, Thor grabbed his jacket again and slung it over his shoulders. “How about I grab dinner while you keep working with the equipment?”

“That sounds fine to me.”

“Any preferences?”

“That it’s edible?”

The sarcasm reminded Thor of something his brother would likely say, and he laughed, “I think I can handle that.”

Thor headed out as Bruce turned back to his work table, only now he found his mind turning away from the job and towards his brother. He imagined Loki would call him a fool for doing this, say that he was too self-sacrificing as usual.

The last time they’d spoken had been spent arguing over that. They’d started to grow apart in their early adult life, partially their own doing, largely their own father though too. Loki had originally tried to do anything to get in their father’s good graces, only for Thor to always appear as the favorite even as he disobeyed Odin again and again.

Still, there had been a last straw between Odin and Thor, and he’d figured that with him out of the picture, perhaps Loki would get the attention that he’d always hoped for but according to Scraps, that attention had simply changed to their half-sister Hela.

He only hoped that Loki wasn’t alone, wherever he’d gone to. As Thor stopped at a grocery store and started to grab enough food for himself that week, he found himself actually hoping that Scraps did hear something about Loki and passed it his way. Thor wasn’t sure if he’d ever come to fully forgive his father, but it was probably long overdue that he forgave Loki.

With a sigh, Thor got everything he needed and checked out. He wasn’t gone long, twenty minutes tops, and arrived back at the storage unit to see Bruce hard at work again. His expression had turned back to that emotionless expression from before, completely stuck in his own head and hands moving instinctively.

“I’ve got food.”

Bruce made a noise in the back of his throat to acknowledge Thor’s presence but otherwise didn’t move from his spot.

Since Thor’s work was done for the day and he needed to wait until he could steal Sterns’ card, he decide to go over and observe Bruce’s work. Sitting by, Thor began to ask questions when it became clear Bruce wasn’t going to start talking. He asked things like how one item was going to be used, what chemical composition those two ingredients would eventually make.

The answers came easily to Bruce. It wasn’t that much of a conversation, more so just listening to the automatic responses. As Thor continued to watch, every time Bruce had a hand open, Thor would stick something into it, a cookie, chips, something that Bruce would eat right away before falling back to work.

Over an hour passed like that before Bruce finally finished. “There. I should be able to make a lot more headway tomorrow.”

“So done for now?”

Bruce nodded. “I need to go home to feed Hulk but I’ll be back early tomorrow morning. Is that alright?”

“Of course.”

“Good luck tonight.”

“Thank you,” Thor smiled.

He helped Bruce clean up a bit before he left and then Thor got ready for that night. He changed to all black and tucked his hair away underneath a hat. Thankfully Sterns’ method of keeping his house safe was only locking the door so Thor grabbed the tools for that.

Judging by when Sterns had gone to bed the night before, Thor left close to eleven and headed to the man’s neighborhood. Thankfully the lights were already off in the man’s house and the block didn’t appear to be a rowdy one.

Thor moved quickly and quietly into the backyard, again thankful that Sterns appeared to be plain and boring and didn’t have any pets besides a fish tank which definitely couldn’t raise an alarm. Getting to the back door was easy. It was picking the lock that was a bit trickier. He’d done it before of course, but he didn’t use the equipment often, more used to breaking through firewalls than actual locks.

It took some fiddling and there was a momentary scare from a neighbor going into their backyard. Thor remained frozen and out of sight, going back to work the moment the person was gone. It only took a few more minutes after that until Thor had gotten the lock and was carefully pushing the door open, ears straining to hear any sound.

Satisfied that Sterns was definitely asleep, Thor finally stepped into the house and slowly made his way back to the front. Hopefully the keycard would be in the same place as Thor had seen the other night. The floor creaked underneath him as he stepped into the hall and Thor carefully shifted his weight to decrease the noise. He inched forward, spotting sight of the dangling keycard on the coat rack near the door.

Once there, Thor took the keycard, wrapped it up, and stuffed it into a pocket. However, he couldn’t help but pause, looking at a stack of mail on Sterns’ turn table. He took several steps over, picking up one that he easily recognized having the Stark Industries logo on it. Perhaps Sterns was thinking of leaving Ross and Project Zodiac behind soon as well.

No matter, Thor put it back on the table and began moving back the way he came. He made sure to lock the door as he left and was quickly out of the backdoor and down the street. Once he got back to his car, it didn’t take long until he arrived back at the storage rental. He thought about beginning the process now, but considering he’d have to wait for Bruce to finish the bomb either way, Thor decided to wait.

He grabbed his sleeping back and unrolled it, preparing for the cold night on the concrete floor.


	4. The Last Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge thank you again! The comments and kudos have been wonderful and really help my mojo start writing. Just a quick reminder that since this is a Modern AU, everything takes place on an Earth-like planet so if I'm mentioning other places, think of them as separate countries or continents (either or is fine unless I specifically state it).
> 
> Thanks again and I hope you enjoy <3

The days were long and tiresome, even if Thor was good at the work. He regularly pulled Bruce away from his table, convincing him to practice and train with him. Bruce’s reaction time improved and Thor got him to try and land some punches after he redirected Thor’s own.

“Now that wasn’t a very hard hit,” Thor once smirked as Bruce managed to dodge and hit him in the back.

“I figured it would be better if I didn’t do major damage to one of your kidneys,” Bruce had chuckled and Thor realized with surprise that he had hit exactly at the right spot.

Thor grinned from ear to ear. “Well done.”

Those moments were nice and brought a needed reprieve from the job. There were also the times where things were just uploading and processing and all they could do was wait. Sometimes that was spent sparring but other times they would use it to finally eat something. With the plan concretely formed, they talked of other things.

“How did you get Hulk?” Thor asked at one point. “You don’t strike me as an animal person.”

“I’m not really. I mean, I like them! Just never really thought of devoting time to one,” Bruce replied.

“So what of Hulk?”

“There was someone I used to work with, Betty. She left after the accident. We were…I don’t really know.”

Thor cocked his head to the side, curious but deciding to let Bruce continue. If he got into it, he could start rambling and Thor found that he’d learn more that way than being direct.

“She just…well one day she found this puppy. It was at a time when she was leaving for a work conference and so she kind of dumped him on me before I could say no,” snorted Bruce. “I…god I really hated him at first. I went through three sets of plate before saying screw it and getting paper.”

Thor laughed, easily imagining a small version of Hulk reigning havoc upon any poor kitchen.

“He never actually hurt me, I suppose he was a good dog in that respect. But he found other ways to irritate me if I didn’t give him what he wanted. Eating my food if he didn’t get to eat first. Ruining the couch to make me take him outside whenever he wanted, even if we’d just come from outside.  He ate one of my damn books when I wouldn’t play fetch with him in the house of all things! And that’s just a few of the insane things he would do.

“His name…I can’t remember when or how it came about but I yelled at him a lot early on and I said…probably called him a hulking something or a similar thing like that. He responded to it. First time he’d really responded to anything that I’d said so Hulk just stuck.”

“Did you not think to give him away, or at least give him back to Betty when she came back?” asked Thor.

“Of course! Many…many times,” snorted Bruce. “I didn’t give him away because I felt Betty would be upset so I held out until she came back. But when she did she…I can’t even remember it now. It was a very, very poor excuse but she somehow talked me into keeping him a bit longer.

“I think…I think she knew it would be good for me. Having someone to care for, to look after. I think getting used to Hulk kind of helped me connect more with the people I was working with. It took a while…an insanely long time really, but we eventually started to connect. And of course Betty still got involved and would take Hulk for walks and things so that helped a great deal.”

“It sounds like she’s a good friend,” Thor murmured.

“She was,” sighed Bruce, unconsciously correcting the tense. “She knew how to drag me out of my head and she just…we…well her father disliked me anyways. I guess I just wasn’t what he wanted for his daughter and after the accident…well he really hates me now.”

“It’s hard to imagine anyone disliking you.”

“Betty’s father is Ross.”

“Never mind.”

Bruce snorted, a smile finally cracking across his face.

“Regardless of the father, it sounds like you two were close,” Thor said, putting emphasis on the past tense.

“Yeah…were. I’ve known her for over a decade and we’ve worked on a lot of projects together. I haven’t talked to her in about a month though. Basically since the accident. I just didn’t…what about you?”

Thor was shocked to find the questions being turned on him.

“I’ve told you a lot about myself. What about you? Any family?”

Thor almost responded right away but stopped himself. Besides Scraps, no one else Thor had ever worked with knew of his life before, and with Scraps it was only because they’d grown up together. It wasn’t like he needed to hide his identity to keep his family safe. It was more so to help himself, so that he could stand on his own and not be judged by others.

Even though Bruce didn’t seem too into popular media and the news, there was a chance he’d put the pieces together. Granted, Thor didn’t have to tell Bruce everything. Maybe if Thor didn’t mention names.

“I have two siblings. An elder half-sister and a younger brother. Technically he’s adopted but he’s the closest family I have next to our mother.”

“So you’re close?”

“My brother and I were,” Thor admitted. “We both made our mistakes. I haven’t spoken with my family directly for some years.”

“Not room for family in this kind of business, huh?”

“Something like that,” sighed Thor. He tried to bring his mood up though, forcing a smile and adding, “My brother and our friends were thick as thieves when we were young though. We got into quite a few fights but we rarely got into trouble. My brother always knew how to spin the best lies and with myself backing him up well…we were quite the troublemakers.”

Bruce laughed and Thor found himself at ease again. That was how the first day went and the second one was very similar. However, Thor noted that Bruce’s tiredness and switching emotions was a continued thing. Occasionally Thor felt it was his own fault. While they sat and ate, Thor felt like he’d probably said the wrong things, asked a question just a little too personal or close to past pain.

Then there were moments where something small would go wrong or there would be a slight setback to their work. It was small things that honestly took a few minutes at most to fix, and yet Bruce’s mood would occasionally change in ways that Thor found he couldn’t follow.

And that didn’t even include the moments where Thor couldn’t find any catalyst. Perhaps it was all in Bruce’s head. He understood it was a stressful situation, that Bruce had never asked for this nor been prepared in any way. Yet Thor couldn’t help but feel that calling it just ‘stress’ was far too simple.

He didn’t breach it on the first day of working together though and he didn’t do it on the second one. He simply tried to distract Bruce as best he could when his mood seemed to shift. It occasionally worked and at other times something would happen that would seem to shift Bruce’s mood to pleasant or indifferent. Thor just couldn’t follow but he still didn’t dare to breach it. He didn’t want to push where he wasn’t wanted.

However, that changed on the third day. Thor simply tried again to distract Bruce. He figured Bruce would just agree to his suggestions or some persuading would have to be involved first.

“Come,” said Thor. “Let’s spar again.”

“Not now Thor.” There was a new bite in Bruce’s voice that Thor hadn’t heard before, but he tried again.

“It’ll do us both good and—”

“I said no!”

Thor stepped back, honestly shocked by the outburst as the anger in Bruce’s face melted away to reveal anguish.

“I didn’t-I mean I-god damn it.” Bruce’s face fell into his hands. He wasn’t crying though the anger had clearly slipped away with only a mix of pain and grief remaining.

Thor quickly grabbed the nearest chair and sat down in front of Bruce. He scooted just a little closer, one hand moving to comfort but he chose to retract it instead, just in case. “Bruce…”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that,” he whispered, still avoiding Thor’s gaze.

“You don’t have to apologize,” murmured Thor. “Just…are you alright?”

“I’m fine. I…no. No I’m just lying again. Damn it. I’m sorry Thor.”

“It’s alright,” Thor softly said. “I know this is a difficult situation.”

“It’s not that. I mean…it is but…”

“You don’t have to tell me.”

“No this…it’s so damn stupid. I even made a damn reminder in my phone but I forgot and…I should have been keeping up but with everything…” Bruce took another deep sigh. He looked embarrassed, like he really didn’t want to continue the conversation. Thor wanted to tell him it was fine, that he didn’t need to but before he could, Bruce was starting again. “I take medication for bipolar disorder. At least I’ve been meaning to but this…not even including this here, just this entire month hasn’t been the easiest. I just haven’t been on top of it…and it doesn’t excuse my actions. I shouldn’t have yelled at you! I just…I’m sorry. I’ll be more on top of it. I promise. I know I need to be at my best once the job goes down.”

Bruce’s head remained slumped after that. It was easy to see what Bruce was feeling and Thor’s heart couldn’t help but hurt in return. “I’m sorry,” whispered Thor.

With a motion fast enough to cause whiplash, Bruce was looking at him again. “Wait-sorry? I mean…it’s just something I have to live with, and it’s my own fault I haven’t kept-why sorry?”

“I’m telling you I’m sorry because you felt obligated to tell me. That you’re ashamed,” Thor gently said. “I’m sorry you felt like you had to tell me.”

“Then you’re not angry with me?”

“Angry? Of course not,” smiled Thor. “Besides, you apologized right away and acknowledged your fault in the matter. Though even if you hadn’t told me, I would not blame you for your actions. This is a difficult thing we are doing. And I am glad you felt that you could tell me something like this, even if I am still sorry that you felt embarrassed because of it.”

Silence stretched between them before a soft, surprised, “Oh,” escaped Bruce’s lips.

Thor chuckled and finally took Bruce’s hand, giving him a comforting squeeze. “It is alright Bruce. And I trust you to be at your best when the job finally comes.”

“Th-thank you.”

“No need for that,” Thor replied. He adjusted himself to look at Bruce’s work table. “Now…what were you working on?”

He listened with careful intent as Bruce described the problem, only for the solution to suddenly pop into his head. Thor smiled, pleased that he’d helped and he stayed by Bruce’s side, watching what he was doing and listening to his explanations even though Thor didn’t understand everything he said.

After a while longer, Thor again asked Bruce to spar and this time he agreed to it with a smile of his own. Over the past few days, Thor had been happy to find that despite being a bookworm and an introverted scientist, he’d still kept himself relatively healthy and he was a quick learner. Thor was confident that should an emergency arise, Bruce would at least be able to protect himself until Thor managed to step in.

Once the sparring was done with, they both agreed that they’d done enough work for the day and Bruce said goodbye until tomorrow. Thor would be done perfecting the keycard tomorrow along with some other programs and Bruce was nearly done as well. Only a couple more days. Maybe three and then they’d be ready. Considering that Thor had first found out about Project Zodiac over a month ago and had been worrying about it ever since, he was ready to have this particular nightmare over with.

* * *

After giving a few crap excuses that let him have the required time off work, Bruce had focused all his attention onto the job. But of course that meant he hadn’t been taking care of himself like he should have. He’d never planned to tell Thor about his medication, why would he? And yet…it had gone a lot smoother than Bruce could have expected.

The ‘I’m sorry’ had been extremely confusing but when Thor had explained, it had lifted Bruce’s heart more than Thor could have imagined. He was fairly certain no one had said something like that to him. It made him want to try harder and better. Finally, Bruce realized why connecting with Thor had been so natural. Because Thor did remind him of Betty and like Betty, Thor somehow managed to push Bruce in the right direction, knew the right words to say even if they’d only known each other for a few days.

On the fourth day of working on their respective projects, Bruce finally picked up his medication again, forcing himself to not only keep up with that but to also spend time with Peter and his guardians, and Hulk every time he went home. There was a strong chance that he might never see them again and he needed to make the most of the final few days.

He’d already talked to them about taking care of Hulk, lying about a business trip that he’d have to take for several weeks. They hadn’t minded in the slightest, May even saying, “We’ll always be here to take care of Hulk. He’s practically part of the family.”

That had eased Bruce’s fears a great deal and with Hulk taken care of, Bruce managed to finish his part of the job with a clear head and a clear heart. He and Thor finished six days in and now it was time for Bruce to go back for one last day of work.

The night before, Thor mentioned, “I should meet you at your apartment after you get off.”

“Why?”

“Besides trying to track down your cell phone, the next thing they’ll do is put a BOLO out on your car,” Thor replied. “Better to take mine and that way you can grab anything you’re taking with you and we can leave immediately once it’s finished.”

“Right…”

“Bruce, are you—”

“I’m ok. Promise,” Bruce smiled. “It will be good knowing Project Zodiac is gone for good.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

And now Bruce was walking into work with a bomb carefully tucked into his briefcase. To think if someone had told him he’d be doing this only a week ago…

He’d thought that walking in would be difficult, and he had worried that he might screw things up with nerves and uncertainty. However, now that he was in the act of doing this, there was an odd sense of calm moving about Bruce. He’d worked on and off with Ross over the years and the dislike had been mutual. Ross had always been too obsessed with the destruction aspect, never the science and act of discovery.

Bruce wondered how many other projects the general had led without sanctions from others. How many other people had he used as scapegoats to further his plans? Had people gotten hurt before, perhaps even killed, with only lies being fed to families and higher authorities? Bruce certainly wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t the only one and again, only a feeling of calm really passed through him at the thought of ruining Ross’ twist on Zodiac.

As Bruce made his way up to his floor, he knew Thor would be going into the lobby at some point during the day and accessing their network to prep the video loop he’d designed. Hopefully it would add to the guards’ confusion and at least prolong the police from identifying Bruce, but the bomb was the real distraction.

Bruce sat at his desk and did work, not really paying attention to what he wrote or why. There wasn’t much point in actually trying today. He was just putting up a front after all.

It was on his lunch break that Bruce chose to plant the bomb. There was some construction going on in the higher levels, an area that would definitely be vacant that night. It also helped that though the under ground facility was technically open at all times, the offices above ground had hours set in stone. No one would be hurt. That was the most important part and the level was high enough up that he didn’t have to worry about damaging the integrity of the building.

Bruce used the stairs and didn’t have to worry about using a keycard as updating the system on that floor was part of the renovation. There weren’t workers there at the moment, possibly on a lunch break of their own, but Bruce was still careful in his placement of the bomb. Once hidden away and close enough to the center of the level so that the outer walls wouldn’t be affected, Bruce finally headed back down the stairs.

He walked back onto his floor and started to head towards his desk just as none other than Ross stepped in front of him. Bruce could feel the anger rising as he looked at the man for the first time since learning about Zodiac’s true nature. However, this time he managed to rein it in. Only the twitch of his brow betrayed his feelings.

“General,” Bruce calmly said.

“Banner. Glad to see you’re over your…illness,” Ross replied. There was a hint of disbelief in his voice but Bruce didn’t react to it.

“Thank you General,” Bruce simply said, still maintaining an impassive look. He started to move passed him but Ross suddenly put a hand up, causing Bruce to halt. He looked down at the hand on his chest, again that feeling of anger flaring up. It would have been easy to give in and instinct had Bruce’s mouth dropping open, words already on his tongue, his hands already turning into fists. But he needed to keep his calm, for Thor and the job but also for himself. He needed this to work. “Was there something you needed?”

“Don’t think I don’t keep tabs on you Banner. If you leak classified information, I’ll know.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that General Ross. Zodiac is no longer a concern of mine,” Bruce softly murmured. Perhaps the forceful motion causing Ross to drop his hand wasn’t necessary, but at least Bruce hadn’t blown up at him. “Have a good day general,” Bruce replied, this time successfully walking away and back to his desk.

He released a sigh of relief once he was sitting again, and then immediately went back to looking busy. He’d kept his calm. That was what was important and now all they had to do was wait for time to pass.

The day wore on, dull and boring and finally Bruce was able to clock out for the last time. He didn’t go home right away, instead heading to the bank to take out the majority of his money. Though Thor had said he’d help him after this was done, Bruce knew that having his own cash would greatly help in starting again, wherever that ended up being.

After dealing with the teller, Bruce finally headed home where Thor was already waiting, having given him the address yesterday. Thor was standing by the building, coat turned up against the wind chill. He immediately brightened upon seeing Bruce park.

“Everything set?”

Bruce nodded. “Did it turn out good on your end?”

“We’re ready.”

“Good. Um…” Bruce looked at how Thor was out of his car anyways and decided to gesture upwards. “If you want, you can come on up. See if Hulk will be any nicer to you.”

“Sure.”

Thor followed him into the building and up the stairs until they reached his floor. Once he opened it, Hulk greeted him as usual though he did growl at Thor behind him.

“None of that now. And no tackling him to the ground,” scolded Bruce as he walked past him. He paused to give his apartment one final look. This was truly it. He glanced towards the bookshelf but shook his head. There was nothing especially important and if he really wanted to, he could just buy those books again.

Instead, he headed into his bedroom and grabbed a minimum amount of clothes and some toiletries which he all threw into a bag. Obviously he couldn’t bring his phone so instead he wrote several numbers down in a small notebook and shoved them into his backpack as well, just in case. The numbers belonged to Betty, Peter, Peter’s home phone, and Potts’, not that he’d talked to her in years anyways. Still, he didn’t know what could be useful down the road and it was better to be safe than sorry.

Bruce turned to his bedside table then, looking first at the photos. One showed him and Betty on a trip they’d taken together. And the other one…god the photo was starting to turn yellow. He hadn’t seen them in so long. Pictures of good memories…but also pictures of regret and a lack of action.

Maybe he wouldn’t be here if he’d made different choices. There was no way to know for sure. Still, he took the photos out of their frames and carefully placed them in the small notebook with the phone numbers. After all, they were the only things he couldn’t replace.

The last thing he grabbed was his medication and then he headed back out to see Thor bending down, hand outstretched and Hulk still glaring at him.

“Hey…how much time do we have?” Bruce said, an idea suddenly popping into his head. Peter wasn’t over (surprisingly) to take Hulk to his apartment yet which meant…

“A little less than six hours. Why?”

“So there’s enough time for a walk, right?”

Thor’s face softened. “Yes. I think that would be fine.”

“Alright then. One last walk Hulk,” Bruce murmured, going to grab Hulk’s leash and clip it to the dog’s collar.

He headed back down the stairs with Hulk leading the way and Thor right behind him. Bruce paused to drop his backpack off in the back of Thor’s car and then they headed on down the street. They went to the park, the same area as their second meeting. Hulk led the way, bent on going down the path he wanted.

There were moments where they paused to play fetch, even grabbing food from a vendor and Bruce buying the most disgusting combination for Hulk who happily ate it all.

It almost felt normal and Bruce wondered if he and Thor would have become friends under different circumstances. Actually…were they even friends? Bruce chose not to ask, the possible discussions too embarrassing to risk it. However, Bruce couldn’t help but imagine that they’d formed a bond over the past week of working together.

They ended up walking for nearly two hours around the area before finally turning back. This time Peter was there as Bruce entered, a look of relief passing over the teen’s face.

“I was wondering where you were.”

“Just one last walk,” said Bruce.

Peter nodded and then looked over to Thor. “I’m Peter by the way.”

“It’s nice to meet you Peter,” Thor said.

“Well, I suppose this is it. I’ll just help you move the food and toys,” Bruce added.

As he grabbed the bags of dog food and helped Peter in getting everything to his apartment, Thor stayed behind and focused on trying to let Hulk pet him though the dog still seemed bent on not letting it happen. May and Ben were at the supermarket apparently so at least Bruce only had to deal with two painful goodbyes.

“So who’s the god?”

Bruce couldn’t help but laugh. “The who?”

“You know. Goldilocks over there,” Peter said, gesturing back towards Bruce’s apartment.

“Just a…friend,” Bruce said after another chuckle. “He’s accompanying me on the trip.”

“What’s his name?”

“Thor.”

“Hmm…you know. He looks really familiar. Is he like an actor or something? News reporter? Meme?”

“A what?”

“Nothing,” laughed Peter. “But I do have to admit, he does look familiar.”

“Well I have no idea how you could know him,” snorted Bruce. “He typically keeps to the shadows when it comes to work.”

“Gotcha.”

They went back to Bruce’s apartment to grab everything else, Thor still staring intently at Hulk. Bruce laughed at the scene before heading back to Peter’s place. He set Hulk’s dog bed on the floor, though he was sure the dog would use it as rarely as he did at Bruce’s own home and quickly find that Peter’s bed was more comfortable. Peter also set aside some of Hulk’s toys and treats before suddenly stopping again, only this time there wasn’t amusement on his face.

“Dr. Banner…are you alright?”

“Of course. Why would you think otherwise?”

“Just…this last week you’ve been really busy and at first it seemed like things were going worse at work but then you seemed really happy-and that’s great it’s-I felt like you just haven’t been yourself for a while but then you were just too happy-like almost forcefully happy-and then last night at dinner you even said I was like a nephew to you and just—”

“Peter! Peter just…slow down ok,” Bruce gently said. He held onto Peter’s shoulders and gave him an encouraging squeeze. “What’s your point?”

“I just want to know…is this goodbye?”

Damn it. The kid was too intuitive for his own good.

“O-of course it is. I told you that I have to leave for work but I’ll be back soon.”

“Right. Yeah of course,” Peter murmured.

“And for the record, you’re my favorite nephew. Ignoring the fact that I don’t have any,” chuckled Bruce.

That at least got Peter’s eyes lighting up again, the kid’s spirits back.

“And here,” Bruce added. He reached into his pocket to grab some money that he’d put aside. “For taking care of Hulk for me.”

“Dr. Banner, it’s too much! And there’s no need for that—”

“I insist. Please Peter.”

“Fine…but I’ll pay you back one day. Promise!”

“Whatever you say,” smiled Bruce.

They headed back over, Bruce just barely catching the end of a conversation Thor had been having. Thor said the final word, hand outstretched and…Hulk went forward and let his head rest against Thor’s hand.

“I knew you’d warm up to me,” Thor grinned, scratching him several times before standing up. He glanced over. “Ready to go?”

“Ready,” agreed Bruce.

“It was nice meeting you Peter,” Thor added.

“You too. Good luck on the trip,” Peter replied. “You can tell me about it when you get back and then I can tell all about my winter break!”

Bruce had forgotten about the break. And the way Peter said it…Bruce couldn’t help but feel there was something specific that Peter was going to do, something that had the excitement bubbling beneath his skin. Bruce wouldn’t get to hear of it though and he almost wanted to ask what the boy was going on about. All he could imagine was the disappointment, the realization in Peter’s eyes when he knew Bruce wasn’t coming back.

But Bruce stopped himself. Better to not make the kid anymore suspicious than he already was. “I look forward to hearing about it,” Bruce murmured, going over to hug Peter one last time.

“Take care of yourself. And give my best to your aunt and uncle.”

“Of course,” Peter grinned.

They walked out together, Bruce locking the door, like it actually mattered. He scratched Hulk’s head one last time. He watched Peter and Hulk enter the other apartment before following Thor back down to the car.

Bruce got in, the car door slamming with a thud as he let his head rest against the dashboard. He felt Thor’s hand on his back and he sighed into the touch.

“He seems like a good kid. I wish I could have gotten to know him.”

“I…wish you could too,” Bruce murmured, and he honestly meant it. If only they’d met under different circumstances.

With a heavy sigh, he sat up straight and felt Thor remove his hand. As the car started and Thor pulled back into the street, Bruce said, “I’m surprised Hulk actually let you pet him. It took about three weeks for Hulk to warm up to Peter when they moved next door, and you saw how sweet the kid is.”

“I would have thought Hulk would love him instantly.”

“No. Even Peter had to wait a bit and buy a couple of bones to convince him. So…what exactly did you tell Hulk?” asked Bruce. “Did you promise him a bone or something?”

“No, nothing like that,” chuckled Thor. “I simply promised him that I’d keep his owner safe and I guess he believed me.”

Bruce looked on in surprised before his face relaxed into a smile. “Well if Hulk believed it, I guess I should believe it to.”

Thor chuckled again, driving back to the storage facility. They had about three hours left so Bruce helped Thor pack up, taking down all the important equipment and stuffing it into Thor’s car. Some of it was left behind, the items easy enough to find again or obsolete with the job now hanging over their heads.

Bruce was curious about what Thor had planned next but he refrained from asking it, deciding to focus on the here and now first.

It was time to destroy Project Zodiac.


	5. Unexpected Additions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as always for the kudos and comments. We've got a few new faces in this chapter, which you may or may not have guessed were coming. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!

“Alright the video loop is set. At the very least the security cameras won’t see us in the lobby,” said Thor. He closed his laptop and put it in his bag before slinging it over his shoulder.

They were situated in the parking lot of a twenty-four/seven store only two buildings away from Bruce’s soon to be former work. Riffling through a bag, Thor pulled out the next step of the plan.

He held the detonator in his hand. “No going back from this.”

“None,” agreed Bruce. He overlapped his hand with Thor’s and pushed down before Thor could try and question if he was ready. It was time to get rid of Zodiac for good.

Light from the explosion flashed from the upper floor as several glass windows broke, the shards raining down on the empty streets. Not all the glass had hit the ground before Thor and Bruce were already out of the car and rushing to the building. Thor pushed forward and Bruce was only too willing to let him take the lead.

The deskman was the only one in the lobby, having stepped out from behind his place with a frozen look on his face. The guards seemed to have disappeared to go check out the disturbance. The man managed to unstuck himself long enough to try and tell them they weren’t supposed to be there, but Thor had already punched him in the nose, catching the suddenly knocked out man and quickly putting him on the ground.

Bruce had figured Thor was effective in a fight. Just looking at him, it was pretty obvious. However, it was completely different watching him in action, Bruce’s mouth slightly agape as he forced himself to follow and not just stare.

He pulled out the cardkey just as they got to the elevator. The elevator opened as motion from the corner of Bruce’s eyes caused him to look towards the door to the stairwell. Military uniforms could be seen quickly rushing up to investigate the explosion. Good to see proof that their distraction was working. Thor and Bruce quickly slipped into the elevator, scanned the card, and pressed the button for the second subfloor. Thor would go and access the network and destroy it while Bruce would start preparing the destruction of the physical evidence.

There weren’t any guards waiting for them at the second level. Thor shot Bruce a comforting smile before rushing down the hall while Bruce continued down. As the doors opened on his floor, Bruce quickly found he wasn’t as lucky as Thor. And if the guard standing there had attacked immediately, then Bruce probably would have been out of luck until/if Thor showed up.

Bruce got lucky though. The man didn’t immediately shoot. In fact, his gun dropped and a surprised look came on his face.

“Dr. Banner?”

Bruce felt a little bad at not remembering the guy’s name. Not that it really mattered considering what he was about to do. He remembered what Thor had always said. It was unlikely that the guy was going to just stand there and take it. Thankfully though, Bruce had the element of surprise and he took it, striking out immediately before the man could get over his shock.

Bruce hit him in the solar plexus and just as the man leaned over with a gasp, Bruce then punched him square in the neck.

“Sorry,” Bruce murmured, even though he doubted the man would really believe him.

The guard landed on his knees, gasping for air and Bruce punched him again. Then again and once more until the man was finally knocked out cold. He quickly shook his hand, a pained noise escaping his throat. How the hell did Thor manage to do that with one hit?

Bruce shook his head, forcing himself to ignore the pain as he rushed down the halls, pausing at the corners to make sure he didn’t run right into someone else. He remembered where the labs were but he headed for the storage area first. He got to the door without further incident and slid his keycard to enter. He slid in, eyes quickly assessing if anyone was in there, only breathing a sigh of relief once he was sure the room was empty.

He recognized other projects that he’d either helped or even read about, but he passed them all by, going to the case that housed Zodiac. The sample space for it had once been small, having to constantly cycle through new formulas as each one had one thing wrong with it or another. Now an entire shelf was designated for the formulas.

Bruce wondered how many people here fully knew what Ross’ intentions were, or if most of them had their ideas but just weren’t bothered by it. Bruce wasn’t really sure which outcome was worse so he just started grabbing test tube racks and taking them over to the sink. The process was slow but Bruce wanted to make sure there were no traces left as he poured the liquid out. Even once he was done, he still took the time to rush to the supplies. He grabbed the most effective cleaning liquid based on its chemical components which he then poured in after Zodiac.

With that done, he went around the storage room again, double checking that he’d gotten it all before rushing back to the door and peaking out. He waited for a guard to pass before slipping out and rushing to the labs specifically set aside for Zodiac.

Like the storage room, he had to slide his card and he got in easily, but unlike the storage room, the lab wasn’t anything like Bruce remembered it. Technically, considering all that had gotten destroyed last time, the equipment and furniture was new, but that wasn’t what Bruce meant. The place was already trashed.

“What the hell?”

He slowly moved forward, looking left and right at the upturned shelves and desks and filing cabinets. One of the larger trashcans was still smoldering and as Bruce stepped closer, he could see the remnants of countless reports burned to ash.

Looking up again, he saw that the door to the next part of the lab was already ajar. Bruce slowly inched his way forward.

* * *

Thor snuck through the halls, mindful of any and all noises around him. He’d memorized Bruce’s hand drawn blueprints and thankfully his memory was pretty good. Thor didn’t get turned around once, finding himself right at the door that led to the servers of the lower levels.

He went in, the room empty and cast in dark blue lighting. Thor could hear the steady hum of the machines, a familiar and almost comforting noise. He set up on the ground, connecting his laptop to the nearest server. He started to break down the firewalls. The task was child’s play now that he was physically connected.

“Yes,” he softly cheered as he finally broke through and quickly went about searching for all mentions of Zodiac, including those hidden behind further encryptions and codes.

Thor expected to catch glimpses of familiar documents like the ones he’d managed to get with the Valkyrie’s help. He expected to find even more that he hadn’t seen, further details of the unauthorized experimentation that Bruce had never been privy to and Ross’ plans for it. Instead he found…

Nothing.

Wait, there couldn’t be nothing! Normally, Thor wouldn’t have started second guessing himself but he did so now. Something had to have been wrong on his end. He changed the parameters, double checked the code that was meant to infiltrate the network. It had infiltrated the network, right? Ok, it had somewhere…

He checked again.

And again.

_Items related to Name: Zodiac not found._

It wasn’t there.

Thor quickly changed tactics. He was still searching through the network but no longer for any type of word, coded or otherwise. He was looking for a trace, a fingerprint so to speak.

Each minute that passed had him desperately glancing towards the door but there had to be something. There was always something left behind. Sometimes it was even done on purpose, like the person putting their own stamp on their work. Thor just had to figure out what part of the network it had been left in.

“Who the hell are—”

Trying to jump up from being cross-legged wasn’t the easiest thing so Thor slid behind one of the servers just in time as the gun went off.

He pushed himself to his feet, quickly jumping to the next set of servers.

“Step out! Step out with your hands up!”

Thor listened to the sound of footsteps. Alright, he was going towards the laptop so then if he slipped back around… He rushed him, slamming into his back and the two hit the ground with a thud. The gun went skittering across the ground. They struggled for a bit, Thor eventually ending up on top. The guard made to grab at Thor’s hair. The pain was sharp but before it became too much or the man took control of the situation, Thor used his size to his advantage. Instead of holding himself up, he dropped all his weight on the man. The guard let go just as all air left his lungs, giving Thor enough time to grab his head and slam it into the ground.

He rolled off the guard with a groan, pushing himself up and sliding back to his laptop. As he ran a hand through his hair, trying to massage his hurting scalp, his eyes lit up at what his software had found. Inside the very base coding for the network, right where Zodiac would have been…

Thor looked at the letters and numbers, thinking through possible ciphers and computer codes. However, he forced himself to stop and take a step back. This stamp hadn’t been left there with the belief that anyone would find it. It was more likely that it had been left there as a personal mark, some sort of achievement made by the person who’d done this. The answer wasn’t necessarily complicated.

He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before finally looking at the line of code again. His eyes lit up.

It was hexadecimal.

The hidden code was a color.

Red.

“Oh shit.”

He couldn’t tell when the code had been added, when all the data had been erased. He just knew that Red would have had access to every single file before deleting it. Zodiac could be in anyone’s hands now.

“Allfather!”

The information had said two weeks at least. Thor and Bruce had managed to finish their plan in a week. He’d thought they’d had time damn it!

He needed to find Bruce now. Maybe there would be a hint in the labs but Thor doubted it. They’d have to regroup, possibly reach out to the Valkyrie or other contacts. But even then the chances of finding out where Zodiac had gone were slim to none.

Thor packed his laptop up, pausing only to grab the gun just in case. From where he was, the stairs were closer and he headed there first. So far no guards but it wouldn’t be long until either people started returning to their former posts or reinforcements even came in to investigate the incident upstairs. Thor had planned on being quicker, on immediately rushing down to help Bruce destroy the information in the labs, but now there was no time.

He ran down the flights of stairs, swinging his body over the railing to go faster before bursting through the door he needed. He paused, recalling where the labs were. Turning to the right, he ran down the hallway, finding the door to the lab but it wasn’t propped open like Bruce had said he would do. He must have forgotten. Wary of how much noise would be too loud, Thor softly hit the door but there was no telling if Bruce had heard him or not. He peaked through the small window, taking in the trashed place and the open door on the other side.

Had Bruce really caused all that damage in the time Thor had been—

_Bang!_

* * *

Bruce inched into the room. It looked just as trashed as the other parts of the labs.

“Don’t move.”

Damn it. He’d been so lost in thought, he hadn’t checked the corners. He didn’t recognize the woman’s voice though it could have been any guard for all he knew.

“Sit on that chair. The one on the right that’s still up. Any sudden movements and I shoot.”

Bruce went slowly, silently cursing himself and wondering what the hell had happened. All this damage had to have been caused by a person, not their own explosion. He sat down, the person now moving around with zip ties in one hand and a gun in the other.

Bruce had been ready to cooperate but he couldn’t help the confused words that left his mouth. “You’re not a guard.”

The woman was dressed in all black, her short red hair the only color to her. She paused, now as confused as Bruce.

“You’re not supposed to be here either,” she muttered. She didn’t drop the gun but she also didn’t look so ready to shoot now.

“Then you destroyed these labs,” Bruce replied, the pieces falling into place. He remembered what Thor had said, about the ghost that would be sent to steal the project. Thor had assumed it was a he but judging by the hair, Bruce guessed he was sitting in front of the infamous Red now.

Red let out an irritable growl, her eyes narrowing as she looked at him. Ok, maybe the chances of her shooting him hadn’t lessened.

“You caused the commotion,” she said. “You know, you’ve made my job rather difficult. I don’t have the time I need anymore.”

“We didn’t—”

“We?”

Shit, Bruce was not good at this! He’d prepared a lot but not for twenty questions damn it! He needed to think…think… Ok, so if she was stealing Zodiac, then Bruce needed a reason to stick by her until Thor found them. Perhaps if he could help her destroy the rest and then with the help of Thor find out what information she had stolen…

“We worked on Zodiac. When we realized what it was meant to do, we decided to come and destroy it,” Bruce said, deciding that the near truth was the best route to go. “I’ve already destroyed the vials in storage. I was coming here to ruin any physical lab reports and current work they were doing on the project.”

Her eyes ran over him before she finally dropped her gun. Bruce highly doubted she trusted him, but it seemed that she’d at least believed him. Good thing he hadn’t straight up lied because Bruce had no idea what would have come tumbling out of his mouth.

“Then you can help me considering all the trouble you’ve caused,” Red calmly said. “And if you try and double cross me, I’ll kill you.”

Bruce also remembered that her reputation said she didn’t mind casualties. He kept that in mind as he quickly nodded. “I understand.”

“And you destroyed the ones kept in storage.”

“Yes.”

“Then all that needs to be done is to finish here. Move. Quickly,” she said, gesturing with her gun before holstering it.

Bruce jumped to his feet, hurrying to see what Red hadn’t already done. He made sure to keep in Red’s line of sight at all times, not wanting to give her any reason to shoot. He was so focused on destroying all that he could that he didn’t hear the footsteps but Red did. She spun around, gun already drawn before Bruce had even looked over his shoulder.

Well there were the guards. Three of them stood there, guns drawn at Red.

“Drop the weapon. Put your hands above your head and get on your knees.”

Red looked at each one calmly. “Fine by me.”

Bruce had no idea what was about to happen but he could tell Red wasn’t about to let herself get captured. He dove under the nearest desk just as she threw her gun. It hit the ground with a bang, one of the guards yelling as Red dove forward.

He watched, eyes wide as each attack brutally hit their goals. They didn’t stand a chance as she moved around them like a dancer until each were on the floor and out cold.

Three shots rang out from the other room and Red slid across the floor, grabbed her gun, and then spun back around to meet the person at the door. She fired instantly and Bruce managed to glimpse the person as they just barely avoided the shot.

“Don’t shoot!”

Red glanced to Bruce with a glare but thankfully didn’t. Thor slowly came forward, a gun raised and his eyes widening as he put the same pieces together that Bruce had.

“Your friend?” Red skeptically asked.

“Yes, he is. Please just…”

She relaxed her arm but didn’t drop the weapon. Thor mimicked her before turning to Bruce. “Are you ok?”

“I am. We’ve…destroyed the final traces of Zodiac. What about the network?”

“I already took care of that,” Red interrupted.

“I know,” Thor muttered. “I saw.”

“Did you?” Red said. She actually looked mildly impressed. “Well boys, seeing as we’ve both finished our goals, I suppose this is goodbye.”

Red made for the door, carefully eyeing Thor as she passed. Bruce rushed over, both of them following Red out of the labs. Bruce glanced at him and Thor nodded in understanding. They couldn’t lose track of her when getting out. They needed to know what she’d taken and, if possible, figure out who she was selling it to.

However, before either could think of a plan, more military and security personnel came spilling into the room, the main door no longer locked by a keycard as Thor had shot his way in.

Red and Thor pulled their guns up and Thor instinctively pushed Bruce behind him.

The military men were already speaking the almost preprogrammed words to get down. However, Thor interrupted them as he looked towards Red. “Don’t try and shoot me again?”

“Deal.”

Thor and Red fired in unison and Bruce just tried not to get shot. He backed away, using the nearby furniture to shield himself and stay out of Thor’s way. However, he couldn’t bring himself to stand by and do nothing as he saw one guard come near. It didn’t matter that the gun was pointed at Red and not Thor. It didn’t even cross Bruce’s mind that if she was dead, then their problems would likely be gone too. He just acted on the simple notion that he didn’t want people to die, or at least nor more than there had to be.

Bruce jumped out from hiding. He grabbed the gun, pushing it away just as the bullet went off. Bruce couldn’t tell if somehow had been hit and just focused on trying to get the upper hand. He managed to knock the gun out of the guard’s hand but the man shoved Bruce off. Before either could do anything though, Thor punched the man square in the jaw before quickly turning and raising his gun again. He didn’t fire it though and Bruce quickly looked around only to see the guards had all been dealt with…one way or another.

And Red…she was starting her way to the door, only she wasn’t walking as smoothly as before. Bruce may have kept the guard from shooting her in the back but the bullet had still hit her high up on the leg. Bruce rushed over. He tried to grab her shoulder and said, “You need to stop—”

With a thud, Bruce felt his head slamming against the near wall as her arm went against his neck.

“Hey!” yelled Thor.

Bruce tried to swallow, the motion difficult and painful with the arm pressed beneath his chin. “That bullet could have damaged your popliteal artery. You’ll bleed out soon if I don’t treat it.”

“You?”

“Yes! I can help you but we all should probably leave now before more guards come. Ok?” Bruce managed. “You’re not getting out of here on your own.”

Red looked to Thor. She forcefully removed herself and Thor dropped his weapon again. Bruce made a move to go closer, Red taking a step back, but Bruce grabbed her arm. “Listen, you need to keep as much weight off that leg as possible so just let me help you. Alright?”

“And I’m guessing the big guy leads the way, huh?”

“I’m fine with that,” muttered Thor, moving past them and into the hall. “Ok, still clear. We need to hurry now.”

This time when Bruce went to support Red, she didn’t push him away and they quickly followed Thor. There were several near misses but Bruce managed to direct Thor in alternate directions when needed. Finally they managed to get to the lobby and were outside, running down the street and towards the car.

Bruce helped Red into the back and then got in after her.

“Head north,” she suddenly said as Thor got into the front seat. “I know somewhere they won’t find.”

Thor looked at Bruce for confirmation and he nodded. “Go! We need to get her stable as soon as possible. And I’m guessing you don’t have the tools. I’ll need. Right?”

“No,” Red bit out as Bruce already started to examine at the room.

“Alright, we’re going to need to stop at a store. I don’t care where but I’m going to need wraps and disinfectant for this. Among other things.”

“Ok, just let’s get some distance first,” Thor replied.

They drove for a moment, the only noise being Red as she gave Thor directions until he suddenly pulled over and stopped. Bruce looked up to see the store outside. Perfect, he jumped out of the car without a word and rushed in. He thought about actually paying for about half a second before deciding screw it. He ran down the aisles, grabbed all that he needed in one of the small shopping baskets, and then ran right out the door with it all under his arms. It seemed he was trying to break a record for just how many laws he could break in a single night.

Thor drove off before the door was even fully closed, Red again giving directions until they were almost ten minutes out from the city.

“Alright, there’s going to be a side road in about two minutes. It’s hard to see so don’t miss it.”

Thor managed to find it, hitting the breaks before turning into the woods. It wasn’t much longer after that until they reached a small, backwoods cabin. The lights were on, breaking through the darkness. The moment Thor spotted them, he hit the breaks again and turned off the headlights.

“Who else is here?”

“No one.”

“And yet the lights are still on?”

Before Red and Thor could get into it, Bruce interrupted with, “Listen, I’m sure you have plenty of illegal contacts that could patch you up but I can assure you that from how much you’ve already been bleeding, they won’t make it in time and we are too far out from a hospital now for them to help! So stop lying if you want to live to see morning!”

Thor blinked, a little shocked by how hard Bruce’s voice had turned but Red only looked amused.

“I guess I misjudged you. Seems you’ve got some fight in you after all,” she said. “There’s a friend here. This is one of our safe houses that we use when we’re working multiple jobs in one area. I’m going to need to go first or else he’ll kill you on sight.”

“Sniper?”

“More of a bow and arrows guy. Don’t ask,” Red said with a roll of her eyes.

Thor and Bruce looked at each other. It was obvious what neither wanted to do it but Bruce spoke the obvious. “What choice do we have?”

With a heavy sigh, Thor nodded in agreement. “Get out.”

Bruce offered to help Red but she got out on her own, limping through the woods and towards the cabin. Gathering up his supplies, Bruce kept them close to his chest as Thor murmured, “Are you sure you’re alright?”

“Throat’s a bit sore but I’m fine. Honestly.”

“Just…things didn’t go exactly as planned.”

“No they did not,” sighed Bruce.

They watched from afar as someone came to the door. Red talked to him from afar and there was a moment where Bruce thought he might actually shoot. He took a step out onto the porch, bow and arrow in hand—

“Huh,” Thor muttered. “I thought that was a joke.”

—before he finally relaxed his arm and made a gesture in their general direction.

“I hope that means ‘come on in’,” sighed Bruce as they both inched forward. Red went inside while the man still made no move to actively attack.

Once the man could seem them clearly they stopped again, the man asking, “So you’ll help her?”

Bruce raised his arms, full of supplies. “Yes. That’s what this is for.”

The man cocked his head to the side before his rigid form suddenly relaxed and he was smirking. “Good, because I’m so used to her patching me up that I can’t remember the first thing about fixing something like this. Come on in.”

Alright, so not exactly what either had expected but it was better than purely hostile.

They followed him in, the place surprisingly warm and roomy. Red was over in the living room and sitting down on the couch. She looked over, noticing how Bruce was taking in the place.

“Eyes over here,” she said, causing Bruce to jump. “Now hurry before I change my mind.”

Bruce bit back a quick barb about how they both knew she didn’t have a choice. He managed to keep his mouth shut though and walked over. “Alright, first thing I need to do is cut away the clothing around the area. Ok?”

“No need to worry. I’m not shy,” smirked Red.

Normally Bruce would have blushed but he was too tired and irritated to care and simply muttered, “Just try not to move.”

As Bruce got to work, Thor tried to search for information but despite suddenly becoming rather friendly, the man gave nothing away. Not even his name when Thor tried to get that. At that point, Thor glanced back to Bruce, though he quickly looked away at the bloody sight before him, and said, “We know you however. Even if it is just a codename…Red.”

The woman gave a sharp laugh. “So not just some disgruntled scientists, hmm?”

“He is. I’m not,” Thor said, still making a point not to look. Wow Bruce was really digging in there and Thor was pretty damn impressed that Red wasn’t out like a light.

“How did you know I would be there?”

“Like I’d give away contacts like that,” muttered Thor. “And for the record, we didn’t expect you there tonight. We thought we’d get there first.”

“To destroy it,” Red said in a disbelieving voice before suddenly shutting up as Bruce did something.

“We were destroying it,” Thor bit back. “And we know for a fact that destroying it wasn’t your only goal.”

“Really? How about you tell me what it is then.”

“You’re going to sell the information to someone. Probably the highest bidder too,” Thor replied.

Shockingly, it was the man that suddenly burst into laughter. “You think that’s what the job was? Man have you got your information—”

“Shut up,” Red sharply said.

“Ok, ok sorry! But they’ve really got no—”

“Stop,” Red repeated. “Say another word and I’m cutting off your supply to caffeinated coffee and pizza.”

The man let out a very childlike whine before his eyes suddenly lit up again. “Oh yeah, there’s some pizza in the fridge. Want some?”

“No…thank you,” Thor slowly said, confusion peppering his brow as he sort of turned back to Red. “So if you’re not selling what you stole, then why were you there?”

“If I live through this, I might just tell you,” she teased.

Thor let out a disgruntled sigh but before he could respond, Bruce said, “I really need to concentrate now. There was some small fracturing of the bullet and I need to get as many pieces out as possible. We can ask later.”

Thor relented, choosing not to stick around any longer as he ended up heading to the little kitchen area where the man was shoveling cold pizza into his mouth. Thor glanced at some of the discarded trash, including several more pizza boxes, and wondered if that was all the man ate.

“You’re not professionals, are you?”

Thor looked up. The casual posture and whole act was still there, but there was intelligence in the man’s eyes as he stared. When Thor chose not to respond, the man continued.

“I mean, I’m sure you’re both smart. Don’t get me wrong. And “Red” did mention that you found her mark in the code, which I mean good for you. As far as we know the authorities have never glimpsed it before. But this isn’t your kind of work.”

“What we’re doing is of a more personal reason,” Thor murmured.

The man winced. “Ooo, careful with those. Personal vendettas never end well.” The man gestured to a scar on his neck. “Trust me on that one. So, is it your vendetta or the other guy’s? You partners or—”

“I won’t say anymore on the subject,” Thor calmly interrupted.

“Hmm, probably a smart move,” the man nodded in understanding. “Pizza?”

Thor looked at the offering and upon seeing there really wasn’t anything else to do but wait, he relented. They stood in awkward silence, the only noise in the house being the hum of the refrigerator and the occasional sound of pain coming from the other room.


	6. An Old Friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, things are really picking up now! I hope you enjoy it and thank you as always for the kudos and comments <3

Bruce wiped his forehead, careful to avoid the blood on his hands. To be perfectly honest, he’d doubted himself for a bit. It had been a long time since he’d used his knowledge of anatomy and biology on an actual person rather than some government run experiment, but here he was and with Red thankfully still alive.

“I’d say be careful and allow time for it to heal, but somehow I don’t think you’d listen to me,” sighed Bruce.

“You’d be right,” snorted Red, her eyes closed now and breathing slower. Despite the super human fighting skills, it seemed she still got tired like anyone else would. “You both can sleep here for tonight,” she murmured. “But you’ll leave tomorrow if you know what’s good for you.”

Bruce thought about pushing her for more information but he decided better to do it tomorrow when they could have a proper conversation. Besides, just because she was tired didn’t mean she’d let anything slip so there wasn’t much point in trying to trick her now. Despite how her exhaustion showed, Bruce imagined she was always in control of her head. So instead, he just nodded and murmured, “Thank you.”

He stood up as Red slipped into sleep. He looked over to see the man and Thor standing in the doorway. Considering neither asked questions, Bruce assumed they’d been there when Red had given permission.

Glancing down at the blood all over him, Bruce asked, “Is there somewhere I can wash up?”

“You both can use the second bedroom. First door on the right, down the hall. It has its own bathroom,” the man said, still eating.

“Thanks.”

“Thanks for patching her up,” the man replied. “She likes to think she’s invincible, and she damn near is, but…thanks.”

The man walked away and Bruce assumed that the man wasn’t afraid of them snooping around. There was probably nothing of value for them to find in the cabin anyways. Or maybe there was recording equipment around them and the man would be keeping an eye on them through the night. Either way, Bruce decided to just go straight to the bedroom, Thor following him and helping him with the doorknobs.

Though Bruce had no idea what the relationship was between Red and the man, Bruce could guess that the bedroom they were in was hers. It seemed far too organized and clean to belong to the man. It was also simple and to the point, with nothing personal anywhere. Bruce had a feeling that the rest of the cabin was the man’s doing and that there’d be a lot less pointless bobbles and bits everywhere if it had just been Red in charge.

Once in the restroom, Bruce breathed a sigh of relief as he finally got to wash the blood off. He glanced into the mirror and saw Thor leaning against the doorframe.

Bruce paused. “Are you going to ask if I’m alright again?”

“I guess not. But you…you’ve handled this far better than I expected,” said Thor.

“Like I told you at the start of all this, I’m not twelve. I knew what I could be getting into from the start,” Bruce replied. He wiped off his hands and turned off the sink before turning around. “And what about you? Are you alright?”

“Me? Pfft, I’m fine. This is—”

“You’re not.” Bruce’s eyes widened in concern and surprise.

“I’m confused. Sure! I’m trying to figure out what Red’s goal is, what our next move should be, but it’s—”

“I’m not talking about all that,” sighed Bruce. “I know we didn’t just knock out all of the guards. I know that you killed one-not that you could have done anything else! You did what you had to and you did it…automatically. You knew what you were doing but you didn’t want to. I could see that also, even in the middle of the fight. So I’ll ask again…are you alright?”

Bruce watched carefully. He could tell Thor wasn’t used to being read like that, or maybe he just hadn’t expected Bruce to be the one picking him apart. Yet the smile and nonchalant look did drop. He looked sad.

“I’ve told you why I take the jobs that I do.”

“You want to help people,” Bruce responded. He found himself becoming interested in Thor’s past again. The man had mentioned his family but never any names and never too many details. “But you were taught how to kill.”

“I was taught how to defend myself by a very dear, and very old friend,” Thor corrected him. “I learned to fight from him.”

“But someone also taught you how to kill.”

“Yes,” whispered Thor.

“And you decided you couldn’t do that. So you left.” Bruce didn’t know from what. From an organization, from friends or family or all three, but he knew that his choice of words were the right ones by Thor’s reaction.

“If you think I will lose sleep over this, you needn’t worry,” Thor said. “I have been put in situations like this before. There is little point to think of how things could have gone differently. Besides,” and here Bruce could tell Thor was trying to brighten his own mood, “I kept my promise to Hulk. And to you. That’s what matters.”

“Maybe so, but it doesn’t mean you’re not sad.” Bruce walked over. Though he could be affectionate, he didn’t often initiate it. He decided this was as good as any a time to break the pattern. He hugged Thor, feeling the stronger arms immediately taking advantage and pulling tight. “We’ll solve this,” Bruce murmured, “and what’s happened will not be in vain.”

He could feel Thor silently nod, and Bruce tightened his grip just a bit more before finally letting go and taking a step back.

“Thank you Bruce,” Thor softly said.

“You’re welcome.” Bruce then looked around the room again, noting the rather small bed. “If you want—”

“I figured we could sleep in shifts. I know it’s doubtful considering Red’s condition, but we don’t want her or the man sneaking off in the night,” Thor said.

“Sounds like a good idea. Do you want—”

“You can sleep fist. I’m sure the surgery took a lot out of you.”

Bruce nodded in agreement, the sudden urge to yawn overtaking him. He kicked off his shoes as Thor went and sat in the windowsill, looking out as the moon became covered by some passing clouds. Bruce got situated, exhausted but also wondering how he was going to get to sleep. His mind was running at a million miles an hour. He’d done it. His old life was gone. The realization of all that was falling on him again and Bruce expected himself to be unable to sleep.

Instead, a few minutes seemed to pass and then suddenly the sun was up.

“Wh—”  He shook his head in confusion, pushing himself up so he was leaning against the headboard. Thor was still sitting in the windowsill. “You should have woken me.”

“I didn’t mind and you looked like you needed more sleep than me,” Thor responded. “Ready to confront Red again?”

“Definitely.”

Bruce stretched before trying to smooth out his wrinkled cloths, not that it really helped. He slipped on his shoes and then followed Thor out, both immediately hearing noise coming from the kitchen. As they walked in, the man carelessly knocked over a cartoon of orange juice and Bruce watched as the liquid quickly filled the skillet of half cooked eggs.

“How is it you’re one of the most skilled assassins I’ve ever met but you can’t cook breakfast without setting something on fire?” Red sarcastically muttered.

“I haven’t set anything on fire this morning.”

“Yet.”

“That’s fair.”

Red just rolled her eyes as the man quickly turned around to try and salvage the situation. Red sat at the little table, her leg propped up on another chair. She’d changed into a simple tank and shorts, the blood stained clothes from last night gone. In the light of the day, she looked paler, signaling how much blood she’d lost. To be honest, some of things Bruce had said had been done in the heat of the moment and with the hopes that Red would cooperate more easily. However, it looked like if he hadn’t stepped in, she very well good have died. Despite what had happened the night before, Bruce could at least breathe a sigh of relief knowing he’d saved one life.

“I should check the wound before we go,” Bruce said, deciding that giving them a reason to stay a little longer would be a better route than just trying to force answers out of Red immediately.

Neither Red nor the man seemed surprised to see them in the doorway and Bruce suspected they’d heard them come down the hall. Red looked Bruce over before nodding in acceptance and Bruce walked over to examine the wound.

“Hmm…it doesn’t look like an infection has taken place. You’ll just need to remember to keep it clean and preferably dry for several days.”

Red nodded in understanding. “You did an impressive job considering what you had on hand. Even more impressive considering you didn’t know if you’d get anything out of helping me.”

Bruce leaned back and crossed his arms. “I may not be a practicing medical doctor, but people’s lives should never be a bargaining chip.”

Red snorted. “How adorably naïve of you.”

Bruce bit back a growl and said, “Just because I would have helped you regardless doesn’t mean we don’t want information. We need to—”

“No need for the long spiel,” laughed the man as he produced a plate of questionable food. “We’ll tell you.”

Thor looked between them, confusion peppering his face. “Why?”

“Don’t think this is out of the goodness of my heart,” Red sighed. “I don’t enjoy being indebt to others and this way, I’ll pay my debt to you both and we can move on from here.”

Bruce glanced to Thor and they both silently agreed that they believed her. Considering what little they’d glimpsed of her character, Bruce imagined this was one of the rare situations where she’d break confidentiality with a client.

“Alright then. So why were you there?” asked Bruce.

“To destroy it. Nothing more. Nothing less,” Red replied. “I was paid half to take the job and once the contact inside the military confirms to our employer that Zodiac was successfully terminated, then I’ll be paid the second half.”

“You had a contact inside on Zodiac? Who—”

“I never met them and was never given a name. No reason for one.”

“Then how about why your employer wanted you to destroy it,” said Thor. “We both thought that there would be people dying to get their hands on a chemical like Zodiac.”

“There were,” Red smirked. “But they weren’t willing to pay as much. My employer however wanted to kill the competition. I wouldn’t be surprised if the contact on the inside leaked aspects of Zodiac ahead of when I got the job.”

Alright, so that wasn’t exactly great news to hear. However, if the employer was worried about competition, then it was likely this person was the only one with knowledge of Zodiac. All they had to do was learn the person’s name, go after them, and then concoct a plan to destroy Zodiac again.

“And do you know the name of your employer?” asked Bruce.

The man suddenly laughed. “You’re not going to believe it. I certainly didn’t when she told me.”

“It’s not that surprising,” snorted Red. “Everyone has skeletons in their closets. Tony Stark hired me.”

Bruce felt his blood run cold. “How do you know that?”

“Well it’s not like he just gave me his name,” snorted Red. “But honestly, it didn’t take too long to find that the offshore account was tied to not only Stark Industries but the Stark family name as well. Considering Tony Stark is the only surviving member of the family…well it’s obvious.”

Bruce shook his head. He couldn’t believe that. It just didn’t make since. “Are you sure—”

“The account was tied to unused real estate in the country Nova. The land was bought years ago by Stark’s father and hasn’t been used since. You can check it yourself if you don’t believe me. Now I told you everything I can. I’ve paid my debt,” Red interrupted, her voice turning firm. “I believe it’s time for you to leave.”

“Unless you want to stick around for breakfast,” the man said, ignoring Red’s glare.

Thor glanced at the far too colorful plate and murmured, “I think we’re good. Thank you for the information. I imagine it will prove invaluable.”

Thor motioned towards the door, clearly intent on leaving. Bruce followed but it was difficult, his legs not wanting to move, his hands clenched into fists. He wanted more than anything for Red’s words to be a lie. But why would she? Of course, the obvious answer was to create a false sense of repayment and to protect her employer in the job but again, Bruce felt like she had told the truth. At least all the truth that she knew.

As they walked out of the cabin and back towards the car, Thor murmured, “Alright, there’s different Stark HQs across the country and then there’s also Stark Tower and the man’s home which I’ll need to find. We have to narrow down the possible places where Stark could be doing his experiments, I imagine this is something he isn’t just passing around without concern throughout all his facilities, and once-Bruce? Are you alright?”

“I’m…fine. I was just thinking, you were awake all night. I don’t mind driving first.”

“Oh, yes thank you. That would be nice,” Thor said, digging through his pockets before throwing the keys to Bruce.

“Do we have a destination in mind?”

“For the moment, no. It’s probably best we get out of this state though before we try and find a place to stay for the night.”

“Sounds good,” Bruce replied.

They got into the car and left the little cabin behind. Thor kept theorizing on what they should do next as Bruce turned back onto the interstate. Bruce wasn’t really listening as Thor rambled on. Slowly his words got a little more slurred, a little farther apart, and then he was out like a light, face smashed against the window as the sun rose above them.

Bruce just couldn’t believe Tony Stark of all people was trying to create his own form of Zodiac. Besides, biochemistry wasn’t the man’s thing. Sure, he could probably become an expert in it over night and Bruce didn’t doubt the man’s ability to create something similar, but why? Bruce couldn’t see the reasoning behind it. He was a successful business man who was egotistical and a bit of a narcissist but he wasn’t a killer. He didn’t always do things by the book but there was no reason for him to want to develop a bio-weapon, especially if Thor had been right when he said Tony Stark had cut ties with the military.

God so many years had passed. How had Bruce not even known something as simple as that?

Thor continued to sleep, even as Bruce paused at a gas station to fill up and take his medication in the bathroom. The trip was largely silent except for the occasional grumble from Thor who finally woke up around two o’clock. They’d just passed the state line and Bruce said, “Next city we get to, we can get a hotel.”

“We should change our appearances before then,” Thor said. “I’m sure General Ross will be forcing our pictures onto a lot of news stations.”

“Right…” He was a wanted criminal now. God what a weird thing to think.

Eventually they turned down a few roads and entered a small town. Stopping at several different stores, they grabbed what they needed before ending up at a small public park. The place was empty and the bathrooms less than sanitary but considering how cold it was, it was doubtful they’d be interrupted.

Thor shaved his head. He looked a bit mournful as his long locks hit the ground, but Bruce nudged him and smiled. “Hey, I still think it looks good.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” chuckled Bruce. “Here, give me that.”

Bruce then went at his hair, cutting away the curls while Thor started to die his hair brown. Then Bruce started to die his hair black to get rid of the gray and darken it a bit more. Thor had also bought some reading glasses, popping out the lenses and putting them on. He looked over at Bruce with a raised eyebrow.

“Very scholarly.”

Thor giggled as Bruce just rolled his eyes. Bruce had also bought some new clothes since he had an idea what photos they’d probably put out with the BOLOs. He’d always been comfortable in his slacks and button down shirts and casual suits. Now as he finished and stepped back around to the mirrors and sinks, Bruce had to admit that even Ross would probably have to do a triple take before realizing it was him.

The unfamiliar graphic tee, jeans, sneakers, and sports hoodie were definitely not things Bruce would have ever thought to pick out for himself. He didn’t even know what sport the hoodie was for, much less the team’s name. But at least he didn’t look like himself.

“Alright, now to find a hotel,” Bruce sighed.

Once back in the car, they drove for about thirty more minutes before hitting a city. They stayed on the outskirts, finding some fast food and then a rather seedy looking motel. When Bruce got the room, he looked to the TV behind the man but sighed in relief at seeing it was clearly broken. Well, they weren’t at risk of being identified by this old codger at least.

Bruce brought his backpack with him, sitting on one of the beds while Thor went ahead and started eating.

“You know, if we knew who the informant was, that might help us narrow down where to go,” mumbled Thor. “I wish Red had known. Would make this entire thing quite a bit easier. Wait a second!”

“What?”

“Your colleague! Uh Sam-Samuel Sterns! When I stole his keycard, I remember seeing some mail from Stark Industries.”

Bruce was surprised to hear that. “Are you sure? Sterns…I mean the one thing I can say for sure about the man is that he’s married to his work. And he never questioned the military. Not like me anyways. Besides, how could he tell us where to go? He’s back the way we came and still working there, not at any Stark facility.”

“Do you have a better idea?”

Bruce rubbed his face. There was an idea in the back of his mind. But it was just as ridiculous as Tony Stark being behind it.

“Bruce…I’d like to know what you’re thinking,” Thor gently said as he finally paused in eating. “Even if you don’t think it’s likely, it could be helpful.”

“It’s…after the accident, Betty went to work for Stark. She works at the facility near Stark Tower.”

“Then we should go there! It’s the best lead we have.”

“You don’t understand. She hated what happened with Zodiac! She…I can’t speak to her feelings on her father, I’m sure they’re complicated, but I know she never had the same beliefs or thoughts of violence that he did,” Bruce tried. “She wouldn’t help Stark create a bio-weapon.”

“Well maybe she doesn’t realize she’s doing it. Same way you didn’t realize Zodiac’s true nature until I talked to you,” Thor tried.

“I just think there has to be something more. It doesn’t make since.”

“How? I mean sure, we don’t have a motive at the moment but…maybe the guy’s greedy. Maybe he wants more power. Maybe that’s why he cut ties with the military so he could work on what he wanted without the government looking right over his shoulder.”

“No. It just doesn’t add up,” growled Bruce.

“You keep saying that, but I don’t get why,” Thor replied as he moved to sit on the edge of his bed. “Just trust me on this Bruce, I’ve known rich and powerful men and even with good intentions, it’s all too easy to go down a dark hole. And besides, Stark gets ripped apart by the tabloids repeatedly. He’s not a good man.”

“You don’t know that.”

“And you do?”

“I’m just saying—”

“Listen, maybe you’ve read a few stories about Stark and decided you like him. That’s fair. I certainly haven’t put out tabs on the man and read all there is,” Thor said. “But he has the money and power to get away with something like this and you wouldn’t believe how many scumbags will use public fronts and companies to hide their real dealings. Red said it was Stark and now we need to stop him before he does something worse with Zodiac than what Ross might have done—”

“Tony isn’t like that!”

Now it was Thor’s turn to freeze. He stared, for a moment not sure how to react as he watched Bruce cover up his face. “Tony…?”

Bruce didn’t answer, still looking away. It was obvious he hadn’t wanted to let that information slip but here it was, out in the open and with no way to pull it back.

“You said you didn’t know he’d parted ways with the military,” Thor slowly said. “When you told me they used Stark tech, you didn’t give any hint that you knew it was out of date.”

“Because I didn’t know! I…god it’s been years Thor. Ok! Nearly…damn it. Nearly a decade. Maybe more,” Bruce murmured. “We worked on a project for Ross years ago. We became friends-it was actually Tony that introduced me to Betty first! He…yeah he could be full of himself but he wasn’t like how the papers painted him. Ok?”

“And you didn’t think to mention this?”

“It didn’t pertain to Zodiac. I still don’t think it does!”

“So what? You can call up Stark and just ask? Clear this whole thing up now?”

“It’s not that easy.”

Thor raised an eyebrow and waited for Bruce to say more.

He eventually did, albeit reluctantly. “We grew close, over the two years that we worked together. But when the project was done, Tony left to go back to his company and I decided to stay with Betty and be involved with the military I…I just didn’t try I guess. I regret it, even now, but we just drifted apart. And before you ask, I didn’t call after the ‘incident’, as you called it, that caused him to cut ties with the military.

“Again, I didn’t know about him leaving his contract with the military but I knew about him getting captured and I…I should have called at the damn least but I just…I didn’t think he’d even remember me, or even care by that point. And so I just haven’t talked to him in…over seven years now.”

Thor let out a soft sigh. He felt like he’d been a bit too angry with Bruce, the shock having gotten the better of him. Now he got up so he could sit next to him.

“You’re just trying to defend an old friend. I’m sorry if I appeared a bit insensitive,” murmured Thor. “But you said it yourself. It’s been years. Maybe he’s changed.”

“I don’t want to…maybe you’re right,” whispered Bruce. “But I can’t imagine Betty going to work for him so willingly if he has some dark master plan.”

“If anyone is good at hiding behind a mask, I imagine it’s men like Tony Stark,” Thor replied. “I’m sorry Bruce, but unless we can think of something else, I think we should start heading for Stark Tower.”

“I know,” whispered Bruce. Thor tried to put an arm around him but Bruce held up his hand. “I know just…let me think,” murmured Bruce. “I just need space-actually I’m going to go take a shower. Ok?”

“Oh, ok.”

Thor retracted his arm as he watched Bruce stand and walk away. He grabbed a shirt and pajama pants from his bag and then headed into the bathroom. Thor remained on Bruce’s bed, wringing his hands together and silently cursing the situation. Zodiac should be finished and yet here they were.

He could tell Bruce was still unwilling to believe Tony Stark would be behind it and though Thor felt bad, he tried to think of how he could prove that it was him. Thor grabbed his laptop, getting back on his own bed and quickly going through different avenues as they popped into his head.

First he looked up Stark Tower and the Stark facility that was near it. After a bit of research, Thor found that it was the only facility going into biological research rather than purely engineering and tech. Considering that Bruce had said Betty worked at that facility, it made since but it was also a strike against Stark.

Thor looked a bit more, reading up on news articles and tabloids proclaiming one crazy thing after another that Stark had done in the public eye. However, it seemed that after the incident Stark had backed away from the public a bit and the crazy parties had dropped significantly. That could be a point for or against the man depending on his mental state. Perhaps he’d grown up, or perhaps he’d simply broken and had started working on untold horrors in the dark.

Only about a month after the incident, Stark had also stopped his weapons manufacturing and had turned to focus more on energy and futuristic tech. It explained why he’d stepped away from the military, the government not having much use for him if he wasn’t willing to make them missiles and bombs anymore. However, again without knowing Stark’s mental state, Thor just couldn’t say if Stark stepping out of the spotlight was a good or bad thing.

After a bit more digging through public records, Thor tried to hack into the Stark servers but there was no remote access available. Annoying but expected.

At that point, Bruce finally came out of the shower in his PJs, he sat with a thud on his bed. Thor turned back to his computer as Bruce started to riffle through his bag. Thor decided to go back and look again at the incident that had driven Stark from the military and his more public image. Thor remembered when the incident happened, just about every news outlet had been reporting on it, but Thor hadn’t really paid attention.

Now he actually read the reports, the kidnapping, the month spent missing in Sakaar, the rescue. According to the news, Stark hadn’t gone to a hospital after arriving back in Midgard so Thor tried a different route. He may not have been able to access Stark’s servers but the military was a piece of cake, particularly the older records.

He found the operation led by a Lt. Rhodes that rescued Stark. Even though Thor still believed Stark was likely responsible (he was their only lead), Thor still found his heart going cold as he read the report. The medical review described all the physical elements, the dehydration and wounds and limbs that had to be re-broken to heal properly.

“Oh god.”

Thor jumped a bit, both not realizing he’d been just staring at the documents for some time or that Bruce had gotten up to look over his shoulder too.

“Why did I never try?” Bruce whispered. He was covering his face up again as he fell on the edge of Thor’s bed. “I should have…”

“Bruce, even if you’d kept in contact, there’s no certainty that this wouldn’t have happened.”

“But I should have been there. I should have been a friend,” Bruce said again. “But I figured he hadn’t meant it, that I bored him. I chose to not try. I was the one who stopped the dialogue and now…now I can’t say I know who he is. How can you not change after something that horrific has happened to you…”

“It’s not your fault Bruce.”

“I know! Just…fuck.” Bruce stood up again and walked back to his bed, picking up something he’d pulled out of his bag. Thor stood as well to get a better look. Bruce rubbed at his eyes again. “What if he is behind this?”

Thor looked at the object in Bruce’s hands, a photo taken several years ago. He spotted Bruce immediately and Stark was pretty identifiable as well. He realized the man next to Stark was Lt. Rhodes, the man who’d led the rescue mission. He only recognized him because he’d just seen his photo in the military reports he’d been looking over.

“And one of them is Betty?” Thor softly mused, referring to the two women in the photo. They all looked happy. Despite how weird it had been to think that Bruce and Stark could have ever become friends, the picture seemed to prove the statement.

Bruce tapped on the black haired woman. “That’s Betty. And then that’s Pepper Potts. They…you know I almost had a social life with them,” Bruce said, a tortured half-laugh falling from between his lips. “Tony never did take no for an answer when he decided it was time to go out but…I don’t want to believe it but you’re right. What other lead do we have.” Bruce dropped the photo on the bedside table and turned to face Thor.

Just looking at him, it was obvious how god damn sad Bruce was and it broke Thor’s heart. So this time Thor pulled him into a hug. He felt Bruce just slump against him. Allfather, he was exhausted. These thoughts must have been churning in his head all day and Thor hadn’t even noticed.

“We’ll come up with a plan tomorrow,” Thor gently said. He pulled back just enough so that he could look Bruce in the eyes but he still kept him in the embrace. “From here on out, we’ll focus on simply trying to locate where this new project is occurring. Perhaps it’s someone else using Stark Industries to hide their dealings but if Stark is behind this…”

“I know,” whispered Bruce. “Then he needs to be stopped. I won’t let our past friendship cloud what we find.”

“I’m sorry,” Thor murmured.

“Thank you,” Bruce sighed. “I’m sorry for making you have to drag the information out of me. I should have just told you.”

“Maybe so but I can understand why you were reluctant to. Don’t worry, we’ll figure all this out tomorrow. I promise.”


	7. The Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A massive thank you as always! I'm having a blast writing this and the kudos and comments is really helping. I also want to remind you that I may add more chapters to this. For the moment, having a goal of ten chapters is just giving me a good goal for this. Thanks again and I hope you enjoy!

In the morning, Bruce did feel better, though only marginally so. He rolled over, the hour early and Thor still asleep. Bruce reached to the side table in between them and grabbed the photo that he’d pulled out the night before. He’d never been one for holding onto old keepsakes and knickknacks. However, the picture of him and Betty, and then this one as well, he’d held onto those, the memories pure and unaffected by anything around them.

Bruce could recall Rhodey and his teasing, how Pepper and Betty would drag him out for coffee and lunches when he’d spent far too much time in his labs. And Tony…god he could be annoying at times but when Bruce needed a new idea or a break or just a moment to laugh away the stress, then Tony was there. That was the old friend Bruce remembered.

But he no longer knew who Tony Stark was. There was a chance he was the same man but then…Bruce couldn’t ignore the possibility of his involvement.

With a sigh, Bruce put the photo down and slowly got up. Thor shifted but he didn’t wake up so Bruce continued his quiet motions. He got dressed and made sure to leave an obvious note so that Thor didn’t worry before he left the motel. There wasn’t much choice in food since they were on the outside of the city still and right by the highway. There was a rundown strip mall nearby and Bruce walked across the parking lots to get there.

He spotted an old grocery store. The name wasn’t familiar. Maybe it was family owned or the string had slowly gone out of business. Either way, it looked liked the best choice in the area short of running to another fast food place.

Bruce walked in, the woman behind the counter looking surprised at seeing an unfamiliar face. She politely pointed out where things were but thankfully didn’t hover. As Bruce looked around, he thought about the fact that they’d need a way to access Stark’s facilities. Just going in themselves would be difficult to near impossible. Even if their changed appearances didn’t alert the average person on the street, red flags would certainly be raised if they tried to infiltrate Stark Industries.

They needed someone on the inside and for the moment, the only person Bruce could think of was Betty. He might have to convince Thor a bit, but he was sure if they managed to talk to Betty, to explain everything, she would help. He may not have known who Tony was anymore but he still knew Betty. He was certain of that.

Bruce eventually grabbed two sandwiches from the small deli and some apples. As he paid, he noted the small TV behind the woman. He stared at the pictures flashing across it. Bruce had been ready to see the news reports and he wasn’t surprised that Ross was pulling his power and rank to call them terrorists that could be a threat to national security. Ross would do anything to get Bruce arrested, Bruce knew that.

What did surprise Bruce though was Thor. He’d figured that Ross would want the media focusing on himself and they’d be able to get the most information about him out to the public. However, it seemed that the media had identified Thor from the few clear security photos and eye witness testimony that they’d gotten.

Bruce watched as two photos were pulled up. Both definitely showed Thor younger. One looked like a paparazzi photo, the image clear but obviously taken from a distance. Bruce spotted the much younger Thor and who might have been his family though Bruce couldn’t know for sure. Thor had simply said how many siblings he had and that his mother and father were still living, no details.

The second photo had been taken after the first but Thor was still younger in it than he was now. It was a mug shot and despite the quality, Bruce could still see the tears in Thor’s eyes, the confusion and fear. Bruce read the captioning, eyes widening a little more at each word that appeared—

“Oh, you’re looking at that,” the woman suddenly said. Bruce jumped, not having realized she’d been trying to get his attention. “It’s a scary thing. Asgardian officials haven’t said anything but some people are wondering if the family is expanding their hold. What do you think?”

“I…I don’t know,” Bruce murmured. “I just found out.”

He quickly dropped the money on the counter and grabbed his bag.

“You know, you look kind of like the—”

Bruce didn’t wait for her to finish the thought, hurrying out the door and back across the parking lots. He was in shock. Of course he hadn’t recognized Thor. Bruce just didn’t stay up to date with news like that and technically, talk of the family was more of a celebrity thing in Migard largely because it didn’t affect them. It was just one of those shocking and scandalous foreign stories that some people got a kick out of staying informed on.

So of course Bruce hadn’t recognized him but that didn’t make the whole thing any less shocking. Why the hell would Thor leave? The way he’d talked about his family, about becoming distant from them, what the hell did all that mean? What had happened? Did Thor have an ulterior motive? Was the news right? What—

No. He needed to stop over thinking the situation. He hadn’t even talked to Thor yet. He was jumping to conclusions and he didn’t want to hurt him. It didn’t matter that they’d known each other for such a short time, Bruce didn’t believe the reason Thor had kept this hidden was for any malicious intent.

Bruce forced himself to calm his breathing before finishing his walk back to the motel. As he walked in, he saw that Thor was awake and there was a cup of coffee waiting for Bruce on the side table.

“Got it from the office. It isn’t great but it’s better than nothing,” Thor said as he glanced up. “You found food?”

“Yes I…” Bruce couldn’t help but trail off. There were just too many questions in his head.

“What is it?”

“Just…please be honest with me. You’re an Odinson. Aren’t you?” Bruce watched carefully as Thor’s face dropped.

“You know of the Odinson family?”

“Who doesn’t? They aren’t just a mob family. They’re _the_ mob family! I mean…I don’t understand. Why are you doing this? And without ever mentioning your family? You keep talking about the underground and contacts within it, but the Odinson family is the underground, at least in Asgard! Why don’t you use that? Why haven’t you told people? Are you trying to protect your family somehow—”

“They certainly don’t need protecting,” interrupted Thor. “And what I do only irritates my father. It doesn’t threaten him in anyway.”

“But that still doesn’t explain why you wouldn’t use them as a valuable resource? Why would you hide-oh. Damn, I’m still doing it, of course. This is why you wouldn’t want to tell people,” Bruce murmured.

Silence fell on them before Thor whispered, “I’d rather be judged on my own than by my father’s reputation…yes.”

Bruce slowly walked over, his face having dropped as he felt bad about pushing too hard. He hadn’t sounded accusatory per say, but he’d still pushed more than was clearly welcomed. Bruce could understand how cornering of a feeling that was, even if the person pushing had good intentions. Thor was in the center of his bed, legs crossed and leaning against the headboard. Bruce set the bag of food aside before sitting down. He swung his feet on the bed so that way he was sitting next to Thor and could easily look at him.

“Just so you know,” Bruce sighed, “I do still judge you on what we’ve done together alone. A family’s reputation shouldn’t outshine the individual’s.”

“You’re just saying that.”

“No, I mean it. Really! I don’t know a lot about the Odinsons, both the good or the bad, but I’d like to think I’ve gotten to know you over our time working together no matter how short. Unless you’ve been pulling a mask over me for days, which I just personally don’t think is in your nature, then you’ve shown me you’re intelligent, you’re kind and understanding, and that you care about people a great deal. Am I wrong?”

“But what my father has done—”

“Isn’t what you have done,” Bruce gently said. He waited a few seconds, watching Thor carefully as for the first time he looked vulnerable. Being the one doing the comforting, it was still an alien feeling to Bruce but when he saw the opportunity, he reached and took Thor’s hand, squeezing slightly. It looked like the small act helped as the tense muscles in Thor’s shoulders finally eased up. He breathed in and out a few times, steadying himself.

“But…you still have questions,” murmured Thor.

“Of course. I’m a scientist.” That at least got a small chuckle out of Thor. “I can’t help but ask questions. But, if you don’t want me to push, I won’t. Honest.”

“No I…you’ve told me so much about yourself. You’ve been open and willing to tell me your life, even if you didn’t necessarily want to. I—”

“It still doesn’t mean you have to.”

“No I…I want to repay the trust you’ve put in me. It’s only right,” murmured Thor. “What would you like to know?”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes Bruce. Just…” he trailed off, waiting for Bruce to speak first.

“Alright then…why did you choose this career? Besides wanting to help people that is.”

“Working outside the law is simply how I grew up. It’s what I know and I…I just wanted to take what I knew and prove to my father that I could help people without violence. He doesn’t see what I gain out of this, doesn’t understand why you’d help someone without an ulterior motive. He wanted me to take over after him, being his only legitimate and biological child but I just…I couldn’t.”

“Because your half-sister is illegitimate and your brother is adopted?” Bruce asked, remembering what Thor had told him before.

“Yes. I didn’t want it but I…tried for a while. Tried to be the perfect son. Both for my father but also for my little brother too. Loki didn’t understand. He was just jealous, angry that he could never be me but even when we started to fight, even when he began to hate me I just…I just wanted to protect him.”

Bruce thought back to the news report and the mug shot he remembered. “I saw that…that you were arrested for murder. Though the case never made it to trial.”

“My father’s doing.”

“When we were talking, at the cabin, was that…was that the incident that led you to leave?”

Thor closed his eyes and nodded. “Even though we were family, we weren’t actually initiated in the organization. To do that, you have to spill blood and I…I…”

“You were trying to protect your little brother,” whispered Bruce, already putting the pieces together. “You didn’t want him to go through with that.”

“No. And it just caused us to grow farther apart and I mucked the entire thing up…got caught and I just…I don’t want his kingdom. I don’t want his control. I…I can acknowledge there has been some good. Street crime has been lessened in the areas he controls. People are less likely to be mugged on the streets, to be robbed, drugs are far more regulated and the money my father makes does go back into the community, improving roads and buildings and education and-and-but it’s all through fear. Through pure control. I don’t want that. I never did.”

Thor finally opened his eyes. Though tears weren’t falling, Thor looked like he was close to doing so. And the fear, the doubt in Thor’s eyes, even now Bruce could tell Thor was afraid. He was afraid of what Bruce would think, of being pushed away, of their trust breaking. Bruce imagined that people had assumed him entitled simply because of who his father was, and Bruce was sure that Thor had been entitled in some ways thanks to his family. But entitlement in some ways didn’t mean a perfect life and the Thor that Bruce could see, that was sitting next to him now, Bruce liked to image he’d gotten to know him quite well over their time working together. He did consider Thor a friend. He had for several days now. Only this time he said it out loud.

“You’re still my friend Thor. Knowing your last name doesn’t change that and it doesn’t change who you are,” murmured Bruce. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry? It was still all my choice. Even if the decision had no good outcomes I was still the one to decide to—”

“No, no I don’t mean that at all,” Bruce quickly said. “I’m just sorry you were afraid I’d judge you because of this.”

Surprise moved across Thor’s face before very slowly, a soft smile moved across his lips. No doubt he was thinking of the parallel of the situation when Bruce had admitted to his medication. Before Thor could try to say anything though, Bruce gently nudged him.

“What?”

“Just come here.” Bruce pulled on his shirt again, urging for Thor to dip over until his head was in his lap. Bruce ran his fingers through Thor’s short hair, feeling the tension slowly leave his body. “I was never really good at comforting. But if Betty had a really…really bad day, usually involving her father, I eventually found out playing with her hair helped relax her. It got her mind off of everything, even if only for a moment.”

Bruce turned silent, continuing the motion a few more times. It felt natural. It felt nice. And Thor just eased more and more into it, finally breathing easily.

After a moment longer, Bruce could feel Thor moving up and retreated his hand, letting Thor sit up again.

“I think that’s it,” Thor murmured, still smiling.

“What’s it?”

“The secrets. It’s been a while since I could put my faith in someone else, someone I hadn’t known for years,” replied Thor. “It’s…refreshing.”

“I’m glad to have helped,” smiled Bruce.

“So we are friends?”

“Well…I did call you that,” Bruce admitted, blushing just a bit.

“I am glad then that you did. I’d far rather work with a friend than an acquaintance.”

Bruce chuckled. “I agree. So now that we’ve dealt with that…” Bruce reached over and grabbed the bag from earlier. “I have room warm sandwiches and apples.”

Thor laughed, the sound good and hearty, any sign of tears gone from his eyes. “Sounds like it would go perfectly with the now cold coffee.”

Bruce laughed as well, passing the food over. He stayed on Thor’s bed, just shifting to get more comfortable and kicking his shoes off. As Bruce took a sip of the cold coffee, he said, “So back to reality I guess.”

“Reality being we now have to infiltrate one of the most powerful companies in this country, if not the world, to find and destroy a deadly drug sponsored by a mad general,” snorted Thor. “Ah yes, reality.”

It was hard not to laugh at the insanity of the situation. “Yes reality.”

“Well, we can’t just walk in there. And creating a false identity, I mean one deep enough to trick people at Stark Industries, it would take too long,” Thor said as he started eating his food.

“I’ve already thought of that. Considering that the facility near Stark Tower is the only one going into biochemical research, it’s the most likely place Zodiac was taken—”

“And Stark Tower would allow him the necessary privacy as well considering it’s not open for tours and whatnot like the facility is.”

“Exactly, so we have a destination already. And as far as getting in, I think we could use Betty to get the information we need.”

“Are you sure?”

“Last time I spoke with her, she was working there. We need someone on the inside and I know her.”

“But are you sure she’d help us?”

“I know Betty. I _know_ her Thor,” Bruce stressed. “If our places were switched, if I’d left and she’d stayed and you had ended up showing her the same information you showed me, then she would have helped without hesitation. She’ll help us now. I know it.”

“Alright…ok I believe you,” Thor calmly said, smiling and patting Bruce’s shoulder, “but we need to be tactful about this. Even if you think she’ll help us, she might instinctively try and contact authorities if you just up and call her.”

“Well she’ll recognize my voice immediately anyways so what if…you talk to her first,” Bruce suggested.

“What would I say?”

“We’ll come up with a ruse, something believable and simple that she’d probably want to be involved in,” Bruce said. “The full meeting should be in person too since she won’t be able to just shut us down and ignore what we have to say.”

“That sounds good. We can scope out the city once we get there to find a safe place to meet for everyone,” Thor said. “One of the good things about all this is that we’re the only ones that know about Stark Industries’ involvement. Ross and the government may be looking for us, but they don’t know where to look.”

Bruce nodded in agreement as Thor pulled out his laptop.

“By the way,” Thor added, “I made sure we have this room for another night. But if we finish preparing, we could leave sometime this afternoon or even later.”

“Sounds good to me. How long will it take to drive there?”

“Let’s see, I looked up a few routes…”

Bruce and Thor went back and forth, figuring out how they would get there and where they would stay and all the little details. The coffee and food was long gone when Thor suddenly got a call.

“Oh it’s…” Thor paused. He was used to lying or briefly explaining things. But he realized he didn’t have to do that with Bruce. Not anymore. “Remember that friend who was keeping an eye on us during the second meeting? Yeah, it’s her. We grew up together.”

“And she went into the criminal underground as well?” asked Bruce.

“Sort of. She joined up with a group of hackers that take on all sorts of jobs. Not as big on just trying to do good but she’s got a soft side, even if she won’t admit it,” Thor laughed. “I shouldn’t be long.”

Thor headed outside as he finally answered the phone.

“Allfather! Thank you,” muttered Scraps. “I was afraid you were already shoved into some jail cell.”

“Oh come now, do you really think that little of me?”

“You never know,” Scraps snorted. “So I see you’re an officially wanted criminal in Midgard. Congrats.”

“Thank you Scraps.”

“So where are you headed next? You know, I think your dad’s cooled his head a bit. It might be safe to talk to him again.”

“So you actually talked to Odin?”

“Sadly,” groaned Scraps. “Really nothing to say there but that I don’t think he’d take your head off if you came back. And your mom misses you.”

“You said hi for—”

“Of course I did you big baby.” Scraps made a grumbling sound though her voice did soften a bit as she murmured, “She told me to tell you she loves you and believes in whatever you do.”

Thor couldn’t help but smile at that.

“And Hela said if you ever do come back, expect it to go from forty-eight to zero up to forty-nine to zero.”

“You mean forty-seven to one! I totally won that one time!” Thor yelled, referring to their continued sparring matches from their youth. “And you know she cheated on the thirty-sixth one.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say Thor,” Scraps laughed. “Also got some information on Loki. It seems he’s housed himself up in the capital of Sakaar.”

“Really? I’m…oddly not surprised,” Thor mused. “That country is certainly wild enough and chaotic enough to entice him. Anything else?”

“Not right now. If I find more information I’ll send it your way. I may even meet up with Loki. My next job is in one of Sakaar’s outer states.”

“I’d say be careful but I feel like I should run ahead of you and warn the gangsters and bandits and nomads that live in the outskirts of Sakaar instead.”

“Damn right,” snorted Scraps. “So where are you headed now. If you want, we could meet up and—”

“I’m still with Bruce.”

“Well scratch that. Hurry up and dump him and—”

“First off, he knows about you so—”

“Wait, he knows!? Thor do you realize—”

“Just hang on a second, ok?” Thor quickly interrupted. “He was bound to see some news report and when he asked I…I answered honestly.”

“Allfather, you’re too trusting damn it!”

“I may be trusting, but in all the time you’ve known me, when have you ever heard of me being honest with someone about my past.”

“…”

“Scraps—”

“Alright, never! But just—”

“I trust him. I truly do.”

“Why am I getting a bad feeling about this? Thor, where are—”

“It’s not over. Zodiac is a lot more complicated than we first thought.”

“You’re still in Midgard?!”

“Yes! Listen, let’s just…let’s skip the whole back and forth. You think this is stupid, I don’t, there and done. And before you ask, I don’t know how long it’ll be. Ok? For the moment, I’m in Midgard and I’m going to stay in Midgard for the foreseeable future.”

There was silence for a time on the other end before the clear, irritable growl was heard and Scraps finally started talking again. “God I really hope you don’t get caught.”

“I won’t, promise. And I’ll be in contact with you the moment this is all done.”

“Thor why—”

“You know why.”

“I do. I do just…be careful.”

“You know I—”

“I’m serious. Ok? No joking just…please be careful.”

“I’m not alone.”

“Do you really trust Dr. Banner?”

“I do.”

“Well…then at least if something happens I know whose ass to kick.”

Thor laughed. “That’s the spirit!”

“Yeah, very amusing,” sighed Scraps. “So tell me, how is this all more complicated?”

Thor talked with her a bit longer, describing what the past two days had been like. There was plenty of arguing and Scraps calling him an idiot, but eventually Thor had told her all the important details. “I think that’s it for now. I better get back in. We’re still planning for the moment.”

“Well good luck. Because believe me, you need it.”

“Thank you Scraps. And thank you for talking to my mother. And for all the other information you gave!”

“You’re welcome Thor. Talk to me soon if something new happens.”

“I will. Bye Scraps.”

“Don’t call me that!”

Thor chuckled as the call ended with a hard click. He headed back inside, Bruce looking up with a curious glance. “That went on for a while.”

“Well, I did end up explaining everything that had happened since I last talked to her. And she called me an idiot a lot for trusting you. But don’t worry, I convinced her.”

“Really?”

Thor’s shoulders slumped a bit. “Not really actually. I think she just caved.”

Bruce laughed. “You sound like you have a good relationship. You said she was a childhood friend?”

Thor nodded. “We called ourselves Warriors Three. Though technically there were seven of us.”

“Did you not think to just change the name?” chuckled Bruce.

“Yeah, but Warriors Three just sounded cooler. My friends Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg were the original Warriors Three. Then Sif became one of their friends and then myself and my brother joined and then Scraps.”

“Hold on! I know Asgardian names are weird but your friend, the one you were talking to on the phone, is really called Scraps?”

“It’s just a nickname. She hates it,” Thor cheerfully replied.

“Alright, that makes a bit more since,” snorted Bruce as Thor came and sat down on the bed again.

“So what have you been up to?”

“Trying to figure out the best way to talk to Betty. I don’t like lying but you’re right. It’s too risky if we don’t do something that allows us to meet with her in person.” Thor nodded in agreement as Bruce continued. “Anyways, she recently published this paper that I’ve known she’s been working on for a long time. It’s about the identification of genes that we previously didn’t know what they were connected to. Don’t worry, I’ll be able to write a script for you so that way it sounds like you know what you’re talking about.”

“But how am I going to get her to meet me in person?”

“You’ll pose as a journalist for a newspaper or journal or something. I’ve looked at a few, I’ll pick the best choice later on. But Betty has always enjoyed passing along information, going into the community to teach others what she’s learned, so it won’t be hard to convince her for an interview.”

“And we’ll physically scout out the areas once we’re in the city,” Thor added.

“Yes. Better to go somewhere that doesn’t have TVs to distract the chance of something coming on and us being recognized.”

“You know, you keep saying us in reference to meeting her. I thought the whole idea was that I was the only one going.”

“At first,” Bruce said. “You’ll be the one to call her, and I do want to make sure you open her up to the real reason why you’re there. You know, show her some of the evidence like you did with me. But I want to meet up with you not long after that. I feel like me being there, and not just you telling her that I’m involved or something, will be more effective at convincing her to help us. You know, if she sees me as a willing participant and all that.”

“Well, you do know her better than I…alright. I trust you in this Bruce.”

“Ok good, then I’ll start on your script. I have a few ideas as to what should be said…”

They went on like that for a while, jumping from one thing to another so as to cover as much ground that day. When Bruce had his desired script down, he had Thor practice in front of him so that way his tongue moved smoothly over all the unfamiliar words.

During the planning, they took a break to go and purchase more new clothes now that they knew for sure they’d be needing to hide in the public eye. Thor seemed to take great pleasure in forcing clothes upon Bruce that he never would have thought to wear originally.

“Here, try this shirt.”

“God, I feel like a man trying to relive his teen years,” muttered Bruce as a blush continued to creep up his collar. Thor just laughed in response, clearly pleased with the fashion choices he was pushing on him.

After the clothes along with grabbing dinner, they went back to the motel to continue their work. A definite route and planned destination time was finally established. They were sadly on the opposite end of the country so it would be a two day trip in reaching the city. Thor had a hotel in mind for once they arrived, this one closer to the center of the city. It was a bit of a risk but the closeness would be useful if they ever found they had to make a quick move.

By the time they had their entire plan set out for the next few days, it was late and both were a bit exhausted from the emotional beginning. Because of that, they chose to actually stay that night and leave early in the morning. Bruce showered first and when Thor went to the bathroom, Bruce flipped through the channels, not really looking for anything.

With a sigh, after several minutes Bruce just turned the TV off as Thor walked back in, hair tousled and wet. Bruce stared a bit too long as Thor grabbed a shirt and pulled it on.

“Nothing good on?”

“On what?”

“The…TV?”

“What? Oh! Uh…yeah nothing good,” Bruce mumbled, quickly averting his eyes to really anything other than Thor. He could hear Thor going to turn off the main lights before dropping onto his own bed.

“How about a story?”

“A story? From me or you?” asked Bruce, finally glancing over again.

“How about both? Nothing deep and heavy just…I’d like to tell you something. That is what friends do, right?”

“I guess they do. And you want to hear something about me?”

“Well, only if you want to.”

“No, I like this idea. Lights on or off?”

“Hmm, off.”

Bruce flipped the little side lights off. He lay back down and rolled over. “Almost feels like a sleep over now.”

Thor laughed.

“You know…that gives me an idea of what to talk about.”

“Well, please, go first then.”

“Alright…well just to prove how nerdy of a kid I was, I didn’t have many friends and I never had a sleep over as a kid,” Bruce said. What he was about to talk about could almost be sad but he separated his past with the present. Whoever Tony was now, it didn’t ruin those better memories. “Rhodey found out I’d never had a sleepover, and Tony found out from him, so they both dragged me from the labs this one time. I figured we were going to a late dinner but instead Rhodey drove us to my apartment at the time.

“For all I knew, they were kidnapping me,” chuckled Bruce. Thor softly laughing along as well. “Tony demanded I grab some pajamas and then we ran back to Tony’s home at the time. We watched so many movies that I’d never even heard of and ate far too much pizza. Tony’s always…Tony was pretty childish when I knew him. It could be annoying, but in times like that it always brought a smile to my face.

“We made a massive pillow fort that only a military technician, and two engineers could create, and Rhodey and Tony basically threatened me every time I tried to talk about work. The pillow fight was the best part though. Tony tried to be sneaky and jump over his couch to get me but he knocked his shins against it and dove head first into the ground instead. Ha! I can still remember his swelling nose. It was…it was good. A good first sleepover,” Bruce finished with another soft laugh. “What about you?”

“Hmm, well despite Loki and I getting along when we were younger, my half-sister, Hela, had always been distant to us. She’s seven years older than me and when I was about…eight maybe, she somehow ended up babysitting Loki and me,” Thor said. “I remembered sneaking in to hear her complain and beg not to but she didn’t really have much of a choice. She ended up deciding that if this was happening, she’d at least make father regret it.

“She got her hands on some bungee cord and we ended up jumping off the high-rise we lived in.”

“Holy shit!” Bruce gasped.

“Well, I’m not even done yet. We were about forty-two floors up. The view was amazing and it was pretty damn fun but we uh…we didn’t really think about the fact that we’d need to get back up somehow. Loki and I were too little to pull ourselves back up and Hela, well she tried to leave us but Loki threatened to break her chord,” snorted Thor. “As you can tell, we were a very functional family.”

“Clearly,” Bruce sarcastically said.

“The main bodyguard, Heimdall, was alerted to us dangling on the side of the building. He ended up having to get a glass cutter because the area where we were at didn’t open naturally. He managed to drag us all in and after several painful hits against the head, he went about fixing the entire thing and concocting some insane story that I can’t even remember to hide what had happened from father. So in the end, Hela’s whole goal didn’t even work.”

“God, and I thought my story was a bit wild,” snorted Bruce.

“It is hard to outdo the Odinsons. I will be honest there.”

Bruce laughed again. He pulled one of the extra pillows closer, wrapping his arms around it like it was Hulk. “You know, it feels good to be honest with you.”

“It feels good to be honest with you as well. Do you think if we’d met under better circumstances that we’d…we’d be friends?” asked Thor.

“I’d like to think so.”

“As would I. Good night Bruce,” Thor said, his smile clear in his voice.

“Good night Thor.”


	8. Betty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you as always! I just wanted to quickly add that I will probably add one or two more chapters to this. I'll know for sure once I have the next chapter written out but there will most definitely be an added epilogue to this story no matter how many chapters there are.
> 
> Thank you for the kudos and comments and for reading and I hope you enjoy!

“You look deep in thought,” Thor commented.

They’d been driving all day. The plan was to drive until close to ten o’clock that night, get some quick shuteye, and then get up early and leave again. They would likely reach their destination a little after two the next day which was good. It would give them plenty of time to get settled, look over a few places, and call Betty that night.

They’d talked back and forth, Thor explaining some of the difficulties about getting into Stark Industries and what they’d possibly need Betty to do for him to gain a wider range of access. They’d also talked a bit more about themselves, Thor much more open now that Bruce knew the truth.

Bruce didn’t mind when Thor started to ramble on about some other insane story. He was glad Thor trusted him, that he could act as a sound board for Thor after him being unable to tell anyone about himself for so long.

But Bruce’s mind had started to wonder, eyes staring at the passing cars and tree line until Thor had spoken again.

Glancing over, Bruce murmured, “I’m just…I’m trying to figure out what a motive could be. I know. I know! It’s useless with how little information we have on all this. But there isn’t really any company that he might use this to go after and…and I know. Maybe Tony did break under what happened to him in Sakaar but I still…I can’t imagine him just becoming a genocidal maniac. There has to be more.”

“Like you said, we can’t really know until we have more information,” Thor said. “But I am curious to hear more about what he was like when you knew him, if that’s alright.”

“Yeah, it’s fine.”

“You said he was the one who introduced you to Betty?”

Bruce nodded. “She was brought onto the project, I think because her father wanted a closer eye on it though she agreed of her own volition. I suppose you both could bond on that front. Shitty fathers and all.”

“What about your father?”

“He…wasn’t really present. And when he was…well you kind of wished he wasn’t.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” murmured Thor.

“It’s all in the past. Nothing to be done about it. Though now that I think of it, Tony actually didn’t have a great relationship with his father either. And then Howard Stark passed away before either could really reconcile from my understanding. Rhodey’s parents and Pepper’s mother were great though,” Bruce continued. “If any of them were in town, they made sure to drag us all out for dinner or lunch or whatever. Tony grew up with Rhodey and Pepper so I’m sure their parents knew his position and they just kind of…figured it out I guess, with me and Betty.”

“It sounds like you were all really close.”

“We were. Just…”

“It’s not your fault Bruce—”

“I know. I just…I really do regret not talking to any of them in the past years,” sighed Bruce.

“Did Betty keep in contact with any of them? Is that how she got the job?”

Bruce shrugged. “I wasn’t really talking with Betty when she got it. And I think she talked with Pepper from time to time but it wasn’t often. Perhaps Tony still remembered the past friendship and just wanted Betty to join his company.”

“Or he knew she was part of Zodiac and saw the opportunity.”

“Or that,” Bruce groaned.

“Sorry,” Thor winced. “I don’t mean to just keep assuming the worse.”

“No, it’s honestly better that way. At least I won’t be shocked by whatever we find.”

“What an oddly optimistic way to be pessimistic.”

Bruce couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “The story of my life.”

Other than their talking back and forth, the drive was uneventful. They stopped to eat twice and eventually stopped around ten o’clock like they’d planned. Bruce got them a room and they both quickly passed out, neither bothering to take a shower.

Bruce woke up first around six o’clock. He took his medication, noting that he’d need a prescription soon. That could prove troublesome but he decided to cross that bridge when he got to it. With that done, he went out looking for food. There wasn’t much besides gas station crap that Bruce shrugged his shoulders at and grabbed anyways. Back at the motel, they ate quickly and then were on the road again, this time Bruce taking over the driving.

The trees were a different species now from what Bruce was used to and the air was getting colder outside. Luckily they’d already bought heavier coats a few days ago and when they stopped for gas, Bruce made sure to grab his out.

The mostly flat land changed to rolling hills and then mountains with winding roads and dense forest. The climate seemed grayer as Bruce got back onto an interstate, civilization popping up around them again. There were less small, random towns or sparsely populated areas like they’d previously driven through. Now there either seemed to be nothing or they were suddenly hit with densely populated areas that they often found driving around was easier.

It was nearing three o’clock when they did get to the city they were looking for. Even from a distance, Bruce could spot Stark Tower in the distance, the second tallest building in the area. When Bruce had known Tony, the Tower had just broken ground. It felt surreal, finally seeing it complete and not just some drawing on a blueprint.

Thor started giving him directions to the hotel they were going to stay at as Bruce finally slowed into the congested traffic.

“I forgot that the city I’ve lived in for the past couple of years is almost laughable in its size compared to others around this country,” Bruce murmured.

“It reminds me of home honestly,” Thor replied. “Architecture is different of course, but I was used to living in a city as densely packed as this when I was young.”

“I never could understand the appeal of it. But I learned to deal with the crowds since my work was usually in places like this and not small towns out in the middle of nowhere.”

“You know, we did have a summer home out in the countryside. Probably a bit more ostentatious than you’re thinking but I did enjoy the quiet that the country offered,” Thor said. “It was also much easier to sneak away from our bodyguard out there. I think because he knew we weren’t as likely to get in trouble like we did in the city.”

Bruce chuckled at that as he wove in and out of traffic. “Oh, there’s that bookstore you saw online. It looks like it could be a good place to ask Betty to meet.”

Thor nodded as he double checked the directions. “Well if that’s there…ok you want to turn right up here…”

They eventually found their way to the hotel. It being closer to the middle of the city, it would be expensive but Thor had already assured Bruce that he had plenty of false accounts that could be used to pay for however many nights they’d be there.

Bruce and Thor grabbed their bags and Thor’s equipment before heading into the building. Though certainly not five-stars, Bruce could tell it was far nicer than any place they’d stayed in the past few days. After checking in, they headed up to their room where Thor immediately started fiddling with the lock.

“What are you doing?” asked Bruce.

 “Making sure no one else but us can get in here. Just in case.” Thor fiddled around a bit more as Bruce unpacked. When he seemed satisfied with his work, he tested it out with their keycards and said, “Alright, we should be good to go. Ready to get our bearings?”

“Sounds good to me.”

Bruce and Thor headed out onto the street, sticking close as they moved through the thick crowds. They walked by a bunch of restaurants though most had TVs which was something they were trying to avoid. They also passed several stores and though they looked like good enough places to meet, it would be better to have a place that at least made some since. Eventually they managed to get to that bookstore they’d seen on the way over. There was a coffee shop connected to it and the place was mercifully quiet, both open but easy to get some privacy too. It was a bit of a walk but it looked like the best choice they’d have.

With that decided, they started back to the hotel, casually talking about what they’d have for dinner when Bruce froze on the sidewalk. On the other side of the road, he caught sight of the large dog before it further disappeared into the crowd. He knew it couldn’t be Hulk, that would just be ridiculous, but it did make him wonder how Peter and his family were doing. How had they reacted to the news? What was Peter thinking? What about—

He jumped at feeling a hand suddenly in his. He looked up to see Thor tugging him along with a smile on his face.

“I thought I’d lost you for a second,” chuckled Thor. “Something catch your eye?”

“Uh…no I…no,” Bruce finally landed on. He gave a weak laugh. “I think I was just seeing things.”

“Hmm, have you decided on what you want for dinner?”

“Um, you pick.”

They continued walking down the street, Bruce realizing that his hand was still in Thor’s. He almost pulled away but…it felt nice and Thor certainly didn’t seem to mind. Bruce kept his hand there as Thor managed to lead them through the maze of people before finally dragging Bruce into one of the restaurants they’d passed earlier. Thor let go to look at a menu and Bruce instinctively held his hand, a soft smile playing on his lips at the lingering warmth.

After ordering and getting it to-go, they headed back to the hotel. As they ate on one of the beds, Bruce walked Thor through his script again, making sure he was saying all the specific words right and that he at least had it partially memorized so that way it didn’t sound like he was just reading off a script.

Once finished, Thor finally called Betty and Bruce resisted the urge to try and lean in, to hear her voice. God it had been a while since they’d talked. He wished he would be seeing her under better circumstances, but it would still feel good to meet with her again. Thor continued to talk, being his usual charming self and as Bruce predicted, Betty was only too willing to meet up.

They set a time for tomorrow and Thor said his goodbyes before hanging up. “That went quite smoothly.”

“I told you it would. So three o’clock tomorrow?”

Thor nodded. “What do you think I should open with? I mean, I nearly scared you off when we first talked.”

Bruce laughed at the memory. “You nearly did. But I think telling her what you know about Zodiac and then going into specifics will be the best approach. Considering that her father oversaw the entire thing, I think she’ll probably be suspicious of what Zodiac really was and how you could know about it. She’s incredibly curious too so I’m sure she’ll stick around.”

“Does she have that little trust in her father?”

Bruce nodded. “I’ve known her for a long time so…I know she’s tried. And she still loves him. I’m sure of that. But she no longer holds him in the same high regard that she once did. I’m guessing she’ll want to help us to correct not only what she helped with but what her father has done as well.”

Thor nodded in understanding. “Well, I guess all we can do is wait now. Until she agrees to work with us, there’s no way I can get into Stark’s system or form any plan. So I guess…movie?”

“Why not? It’s not like we can do anything else,” repeated Bruce.

They cleaned up before again choosing to sit on one of the beds as Thor flipped through the channels. A movie was found after some friendly arguing and as the images moved across the screen, Bruce began to drift away before falling asleep against Thor’s shoulder.

* * *

Thor took a deep breath as he walked into the bookstore. It was almost time for the meeting. Bruce was a few stores away, biding his time before he joined them. Thor was both nervous and excited. On the one hand, he was meeting a friend of Bruce’s, a woman he’d talked about again and again. Thor had a feeling that he’d like her quite a bit. Granted, there were few people that he actively disliked but still…

Nevertheless, the nerves were there too. He trusted Bruce but there was still a chance of Betty trying to bolt, or her not agreeing to help, or countless other options. There was really no telling how this meeting would go.

Thor went ahead and grabbed a cup of coffee from the little café inside and sat down. He looked around, waiting for Betty to enter. Bruce had shown him her picture online so he knew who to look for. The seconds ticked by and Thor shifted in his seat. Again, he trusted Bruce but it had just passed three o’clock and he was starting to get anxious…

There she was! She rushed in, her black hair in a messy, hastily put together ponytail. She looked around and Thor quickly stood, waving her over. She sighed in relief, collecting herself and smoothing out her coat as she walked over.

“Mr. Blake,” she said, using the false name Thor had given her and holding out her hand. “I’m so sorry for being late.”

“It’s fine. I haven’t been waiting long,” Thor kindly said. “Would you like some coffee before we start?”

“That sounds like a perfect idea for such a cold day,” she smiled. Thor followed her over to the line, asking some basic questions that allowed Betty to begin rambling as she ordered and then waited. Once she got her coffee, Thor suggested they walk around the bookstore and he carefully steered her away from other groups of people.

“You know, I’ve been rambling quite a bit. How about you actually ask me some questions,” Betty suggested.

“Well…I must admit, my reason for wishing to meet with you isn’t for a journalistic endeavor.”

“Really? Well I’ll tell you right now, if you’re working for another company, I won’t sell out—”

“Oh no, nothing like that,” Thor quickly said.

Betty cocked her head to the side, confusion and curiosity coloring her face. The important thing was that she didn’t look threatened and didn’t look like she was ready to bolt already. Thor suspected that it helped they were in a public place.

“So then what is your reasoning for asking for this meeting?”

“I have some documents to show you. I’d like your opinion on them. They’re about Project Zodiac.”

Now Betty stepped back, though she clearly wasn’t fearful or in shock like Bruce had been. Instead, her eyes narrowed into a glare and she angrily said, “If you’re working for my father, you can tell him I’m not—”

“I don’t work for General Ross. I promise you,” Thor said as he took some of the documents out of his bag. “Please…just a moment of your time.”

Betty was still glaring at him like she didn’t believe him but took the documents all the same. As she started to look through them, her eyes kept glancing back up towards Thor. He imagined she was slowly starting to put the pieces together and was right after several minutes passed. She handed the documents back and murmured, “You’re Thor Odinson…aren’t you?”

“I am,” Thor answered honestly.

“What does Asgard’s most notorious mob family want with Zodiac?”

Instead of answering, Thor said, “You’re not surprised by Zodiac’s true purpose?”

“After growing up with a man like my father, you learn not to be surprised by anything anymore. Just disappointed.”

Thor could understand that feeling all too well.

“But you didn’t answer my question either. What does your family want with Zodiac?”

“Nothing. As far as I know, they don’t know of its existence.”

“Then what do you want with it?”

“To see it destroyed.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t quite believe you,” Betty firmly said.

“That’s fair,” Thor replied. “But perhaps you’d believe it from a familiar face.”

He’d seen Bruce arrive a little while ago and now nodded for him to come over. Betty noticed Thor’s motion and turned just in time.

She blinked, eyes widening as her lips parted. She whispered his name, almost like police would fall upon them in a second if she said it too loudly. “Bruce?”

He gave a weak smile. “Hey Betty.”

She continued to stare for a few seconds more before suddenly grabbing hold of him. Bruce looked shocked before very slowly his arms moved around her and he hugged as tightly as he could.

“Did you seriously have to become a national criminal in order to finally come and see me?” gasped Betty.

Bruce gave a half laugh, voice choking up as he whispered, “Sorry.”

As Betty pulled back, she said, “You hair. When…and what are you wearing?”

Thor laughed as Bruce just rolled his eyes. “Don’t ask.”

Betty looked between the two of them several times before she said, “You’re working together?”

“We are,” Bruce said.

“So then what you said about wanting to destroy Zodiac…”

“The truth,” Thor replied. “Perhaps we could talk somewhere more private?”

“But…why are you here? I heard the lab was destroyed. I’m assuming that was you guys, right?”

“Technically,” sighed Bruce, “but things didn’t really go as planned. We need your help. If…if you’re willing.”

“God, of course! Where are we going?”

“We have a hotel nearby,” Thor said. “If that’s ok.”

Betty nodded and the three of them quickly left. Betty began asking Bruce about what had happened over the past few weeks and he filled her in on his time at the office and how he’d met Thor and gotten involved on everything.

“You know, I saw the news. But I just…I don’t think I really believed it until I turned around and you were just there,” Betty admitted. “My father will have your head on a stick if he catches you.”

“Believe me, I know. But this is important,” sighed Bruce. “I helped create Zodiac. I need to fix this.”

“Don’t put this all on yourself. I was right there beside you when we were trying to develop it,” Betty replied. “I can’t let my father get away with this. But why are you here? You can’t have just come across the country for my help.”

“It’s just gotten more complicated than we’d planned. We’ll show you what we have at the hotel.”

They continued on, getting to the hotel and going up the elevator. Thor scanned their card and they walked in. Betty looked around, processing all the equipment that was there. She looked to Thor. “All yours?”

He nodded. “It’s…basically my job.”

“Why would you need a job with connections like yours?”

“I’ve distanced myself from my family,” Thor simply said. “I try and help people. I happened upon this project and Bruce got swept into this due to some unforeseen circumstances.”

“And unforeseen circumstances is what’s kept us here,” sighed Bruce.

Thor pulled up his laptop and they gathered around. Thankfully the two beds were queen sized so all three of them easily fit on one as Thor showed Betty more information and all the work that he and Bruce had done to get into the labs originally.

“But Red came early. We ran into her and one thing led to another and she got shot. We ended up helping her get out of there and I stitched her up. In return, she told us what she was doing there,” Bruce said.

“Hold on, shot? Bruce you were in a fight!?”

“He was in a fight,” Bruce replied, pointing towards Thor. “I was lucky enough to get in a few punches.”

“Really?”

“Alright, don’t sound so surprised,” muttered Bruce. “The point is, and just hear me out. The point is she said Tony Stark paid her to destroy Zodiac because he was already beginning his own formula of the project.”

Betty stared, shook her head clear, and managed to say, “Bruce, we’re talking about Tony here. He wouldn’t—”

“Do you know for sure?” Bruce wasn’t trying to be rude. If anything, he desperately wanted Betty to tell him he was insane and that Tony was normal and rational and the same old Tony and would never do this. “Don’t think of the man we first worked with. Think of him now. Are you one hundred percent certain that he hasn’t just cracked?”

He wanted her to shake her head. To yell at him for being an idiot.

Instead, Betty hesitated. “He…we’ve talked a bit,” she finally murmured, “since I started working there. He’s…withdrawn. He’s still in the labs a lot but his involvement with the company aspect has dwindled and from what I understand, even Pepper isn’t around as often as she once was. I haven’t seen Rhodey once in the entire month that I’ve been there either.”

That wasn’t good. The three of them had practically been glued together. “Well, what about Happy? He’s still Tony’s chauffer, right?”

“He was. He was even head of security! But um…apparently he was dismissed about a month and a half ago. I haven’t asked Tony about it. Again, haven’t seen much of him and the people I’ve worked with said it was better if I didn’t bring up the incident.”

Bruce could feel himself growing cold. Tony had dismissed Happy? Happy of all people?! Was he getting rid of the people closest to him so as to hide what he was working on? One look at Thor showed no sign of victory or satisfaction. Thor had hoped Bruce was right, that Red was mistaken somehow, but it seemed things were not turning in his favor. Thor gently touched Bruce’s knee, clearly sorry that Bruce was losing his friend in this way.

“Are you worried about Peter?” Betty suddenly asked, breaking apart their moment and causing Bruce’s head to whip around.

“What?!”

“Didn’t he tell you? Tony is doing this special internship for the month. He has maybe…five kids he’s working with, I think? He’s been wrapped up in that too which has kept our contact to a minimum. Peter brought Hulk with him so I figured…”

Peter’s final words rang in Bruce’s head. He’d been so excited to surprise Bruce after winter break. It had been obvious Peter had big plans but Bruce had figured May and Ben were taking him somewhere special. Not this!

“Peter’s here?” Bruce whispered.

Betty nodded. “I volunteered to pick some of the kids up from the airport. The news about you and Thor hadn’t broken yet so I didn’t…he just expressed how excited he was, to be there, to see a familiar face, to be able to bring a friend with him, Hulk. I haven’t…I haven’t seen him since then though. I mainly stay at the facility but Tony’s been holdup with the kids in the Tower.”

“Peter is…here.” Bruce looked down, his knuckles turning white from how tightly his hands were clenched. What if Peter got hurt? This was exactly why Bruce had joined Thor, so that innocents wouldn’t be harmed by what he’d created and yet now Peter was possibly in the middle of it all?

“Bruce…”

He looked up as Thor gently took his shoulder. “We’ll do everything in our power to make sure Peter doesn’t get hurt. That none of the children do. This fight isn’t over yet.”

Bruce mutely nodded, forcing himself to breathe a little easier. There was no point in thinking up possible scenarios for the moment. They needed to focus on getting to Zodiac.

“So where do I come in?” Betty asked.

“I’m assuming you haven’t seen any sign of a Zodiac-like project,” Thor said.

“No, but if there was one being done, it would be in the facility here. It’s the only one that I know of that has the kind of equipment necessary for this.”

“Have you heard anything about Samuel Sterns?” Bruce asked.

“Dr. Sterns who we worked with? No, why?”

“I saw that he’d been in contact with Stark Industries,” Thor said.

“And we know there was a contact on the inside ready to confirm that Zodiac had been destroyed by Red. Since it obviously wasn’t you, we’re beginning to wonder if it was Sterns,” Bruce said.

“Well I haven’t seen or heard from him. Though I also wouldn’t put it past him if there was a monetary incentive and access to better equipment.”

Bruce nodded in agreement.

“Well, we’ll have to push Sterns to the side for now since none of us know anything more,” sighed Thor. “Now what I need you to do, is put a USB drive into one of the computers on Stark’s closed network and initiate a program on it.”

“What for?” asked Betty.

“I’ve been creating a virus on it. The idea is that once the program is started, I’ll have remote access to the entire network.”

“Do you know for sure that it will work?”

“…no. I’ve never had access to work on technology as advanced as Stark’s.”

“And what’s to say some security measure doesn’t find it or shut it down? What’s to say they can’t trace it back to an exact time and computer, look at the security footage, find that I was the one to put it there, and then get caught?”

Thor winced. “That isn’t…likely.”

“But you don’t know for sure.”

“…no.”

Thor waited for a shake of the head and a hard no. Instead, Betty just sighed, shrugged her shoulders, and said, “Where’s the USB?”

Blinking in surprise, Thor looked to Bruce, at least expecting him to raise some cause for concern. After all, Thor hadn’t gotten into the particulars with Bruce, nor told him of the risk involved. But Bruce laughed instead. Thor was sure he was worried, but he wasn’t showing it, at least not right now.

“Are you not…concerned about the risks in this?” Thor asked.

“No time to think about that,” Betty simply responded. “I’m one person. If I get caught trying to help hundreds of possible victims, then any risks are worth taking.”

Thor could now see how Betty and Bruce had become such close friends. Bruce was typically quieter, thinking in his head rather than being vocally assertive. However, both of them had a clear and unmoving sense of right inside them that guided their decisions.

“I told you she’d help us,” Bruce smiled, looking both pleased and proud of her.

Betty grinned back at him before turning to Thor and raising an eyebrow. “So? Where is it?”

“Oh, um…just giving me a few minutes to go over the coding again and I’ll have it ready. When is the earliest you can access the network?”

“I’m off today but I could still go in—”

Thor shook his head. “Do you often go in on your off days?”

“Not unless I’m called in.”

“Then don’t. Better to not raise suspicion with a change in behavior. Do you work tomorrow?”

She nodded.

“Then that’s fine. We may have to act quickly on this but for now, patience is our best course of action. We don’t want to tip anyone off to what we’re doing.”

“Makes since,” Betty agreed. She turned back to Bruce as Thor took his computer and started going to work. She placed a hand on Bruce’s which caused Thor to pause before he forced himself to look back at the coding. “I’m curious. If things had gone as planned, what were you going to do?”

“Leave, basically.”

“No goodbye? No explanation? Just go on the run for life?”

“Well, I mean not for life. Thor was going to help me with a new identity and I figured I could settle in some country that doesn’t have an extradition agreement with Midgard—ow!”

Bruce yelped as Betty’s gentle touch was quickly revoked and changed to a punch in the shoulder.

“You are a terrible friend!”

“I didn’t want you to get caught in the middle if it wasn’t necessary.”

“That’s no excuse!”

“I think it’s a pretty admirable one actually.”

“No it is not! Did you even think about how I’d feel? Knowing one of my best friends had just become a fugitive and disappeared?”

“I thought it would be the safest route,” Bruce tried to defend.

“Don’t lie to me Bruce. I’ve known you for a near decade,” Betty replied. “You didn’t want to go through with a goodbye. You never do!”

“I just—”

“Just promise me that whatever happens, you’ll say goodbye this time,” Betty interrupted. “I would hate having to live without any idea of what might have happened to you.”

“I…of course. Of course I will Betty. You’re my best friend—ow!”

“Then act like it and make sure you say goodbye, understand?”

“Yes I…I do.”

Betty finally smiled again. And kissed Bruce on the cheek. “Thank you.”

“Done!”

Betty and Bruce both jumped a little. Thor hadn’t quite meant to yell that and he wasn’t quite sure why he’d done it but he just quickly backpedaled and added, “I mean…here. The USB. All you have to do is execute the dot ‘exe’ file. Once you see it’s fully uploaded, remove the USB and bring it back here.”

“That’s it?”

Thor nodded. “Once we can get a look inside and can figure out where Zodiac is hiding, we’ll come up with the next part of the plan.” He smiled and held out his hand. “Welcome to the team Betty.”

She smiled in return. “Glad to be here.”


	9. I'll Be Fine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for how long this took but I'm back! The next chapter will definitely be the last but depending on how long it is, either I'll break off the epilogue-ish part into its own chapter or add it on to the end of the next chapter making it extra long. Either way, it's almost done, the man behind everything will soon be revealed (if you didn't already catch some of the clues I dropped) but anyways, massive apologies again and thank you to everyone who left kudos and comments and asked after this fic!

There was a lot more patience needed as Thor found he had to just sit and wait for Betty to implement the program, and even then it turned out not to be as cut and dry as Thor had hoped.

When she got back, she and Bruce sat near him as he hit wall after wall after wall on his laptop.

“I shouldn’t be surprised,” sighed Thor. “It makes since there’d be a hundred and one fail-safes.”

“So your program didn’t access everything,” Bruce said.

“Not…quite. It’s technically all there for me. Just…I can’t automatically search through everything to try and find Zodiac. I doubt Stark’s project is even under the same name so there’ll just be a lot of manual work here,” Thor admitted. “I’ll try and find the blueprints first. Once I find them, Betty, you can walk Bruce through the facility, get things labeled and make sure we’re both familiar with the place. If there are any places you’re unfamiliar with, please mark them down. Especially if you didn’t know they originally existed.”

“I can do that,” she smiled.

If Stark wasn’t trying to pull some Ross maneuver by having a bunch of conflicting blueprints, or even none at all, then Thor knew where to look for the information. It took a few more minutes of searching before Thor found them. He downloaded them and passed them over to Betty who put them on her laptop.

Thor continued his work, pausing every now and then to listen to Betty’s explanation.

“This whole section is under construction at the moment,” Betty said, pointing to one area on the third floor of the building. “It’s going to be used for research into Autoimmune Inflammatory Myopathies. Just another outreach experiment Stark is wanting to try with the new bioengineering part of the facility.”

“Hmm, that could work as a place to hide an experiment,” mused Thor. “Have it be in plain sight but still in a place where many of the building’s normal functions would not be operational at that time.”

“I’ll admit,” said Betty, “assuming all these are accurate, I’ve been through just about the entire building except for a broom closet here or there. The only area I haven’t accessed is the place under construction because it’s been that way since before I started the job.”

“What if someone was say, hiding the physical evidence in a broom closet and then using another lab when it wasn’t in use?” tried Thor.

“That’s not likely. I have a fairly regular work schedule but the place is open twenty-four seven. There are scientists all around the world who’ll visit and work off each other at all hours of the day. It can be quite unpredictable at times and nearly impossible to coordinate. Considering Project Zodiac’s ability to be volatile, it would be incredibly dangerous jumping from lab to lab too. Tony’s smarter than that. He knows he’d need a stable place to work.”

“And the construction site could be that place,” Thor finished. “Do you think there could be a near full lab up there already and the construction part is no longer going on? Like a front?”

“It’s certainly possible. Besides, it’s  a large space, nearly half the floor, and he’d only need about…” she paused, looking at the blueprints before circling some of the rooms, “…this much space for the equipment he’d likely need. And this area wouldn’t be viewable from the only open elevators on that floor. So yes I think that space is very likely.”

 “Hmm, and you called the future project Autoimmune…”

“Inflammatory Myopathies. But the goal of the project doesn’t—”

“Just because you think you know what a project is being used for doesn’t mean that’s the reality of the situation,” Thor said, Bruce nodding in agreement. “Besides, there’s always a chance the documents about the project is hiding Zodiac underneath. At the very least, I have a target now rather than blindly searching.”

Betty nodded in understanding and they continued working. It was a multi-day project, most of which was just Thor reviewing as many documents as he could. Bruce helped him to read some of the more unfamiliar words and helped to explain if something seemed off or was wrong about a document, perhaps hinting at some type of encoding.

During the time, Bruce ran out of his medication which posed a temporary issue. Thor put aside the mission one day so he could come up with a plan to help Bruce.

“I’m sorry that this is pulling away from the job,” Bruce sighed. “You didn’t have to help.”

“No, I want to,” Thor smiled. “Besides, I think a break will do us good. When we come back, it will allow us to look over our information with new eyes so to speak.”

Bruce couldn’t help but agree with that line of logic. Ultimately, Thor found a pharmacy in a neighboring city two hours away. They didn’t want to raise any alarms too close to their temporary home after all. Thor hacked the building’s files, looking for a patient that used the same medication as Bruce. It didn’t take long to find one, Thor showing the results to double check.

“That’s perfect,” Bruce said. He thankfully didn’t have to feel bad about stealing it since it wasn’t the customer who’d be affected, just the company losing money and being mildly inconvenienced. Bruce also insisted he went along. It would make a ruse easier to pull off and he didn’t want to leave Thor hanging if something did happen.

That afternoon was spent driving to the neighboring town. Thor hacked their security system to find their blind spots and to figure out the necessary cover they’d require to hide their faces. Some low hats and sunglasses were really all they needed. Bruce made a massive mess in the front, his nerves doing a good job of making him seem all the more embarrassed and clumsy.

With everyone distracted, Thor jumped behind the desk, found the patient’s bag, and then they were gone.

Betty was waiting for them when they got back, arms crossed and an exasperated look on her face. “I was starting to get worried. Where were you?”

“Sorry. Had to restock on my medication and make a very creative plan on how to do it,” Bruce replied.

“You realize you could have just asked me. Right? I can get just about anything, no questions asked at Stark Industries.”

Thor and Bruce looked to each other sheepishly. “Maybe we should have thought of that,” chuckled Bruce.

“And lose a much deserved break? I think not,” Thor replied with a boisterous laugh. For Bruce, it was hard not to smile when Thor laughed like that and Betty found herself chuckling as well, even if she rolled her eyes at the ridiculousness of it all too.

After that, Bruce and Thor started work again with a new fever. They’d long since given Betty a key to the room even though she wasn’t often there. She did have her actual job that she still had to go to. However, there was one instance where she was with Thor while Bruce had offered to go get food.

It left them alone together for the first time, Betty looking over Thor’s shoulder as he worked. For a moment, a comfortable silence rested between the two. As Thor was waiting for part of the new data to process, Betty said, “Have you really only been working with Bruce for just under three weeks?”

“Yes. Why?”

“You make it feel like you’ve known him for months, maybe even years. That’s an incredibly hard thing to do with Bruce.”

“I supposed I should count myself as one of the lucky ones then.”

“He is a good friend to have. I’m just…Bruce isn’t the best when it comes to his emotions. It’s not uncommon for him to doubt the depth that people care for him.”

“Is this one of those ‘you hurt him and I kill you’ type speeches?” Thor asked with a raised eyebrow and a slightly amused smile.

“What?! Oh no! No, sorry,” she laughed. “I didn’t mean that at all. Just…sometimes you have to be more forward with him. Do you understand? And sometimes you have to push as he just won’t get it the first few times.”

“It has been a short time that we’ve been working together, but I believe we have become close friends during it. Bruce agrees.”

“That’s not quite what I meant.”

“Then what do you mean?”

Betty opened her mouth, just staring at Thor for a moment before she finally leaned forward and rested her chin in the palm of her hand.”Oh my god…you’re both utterly clueless.”

Thor looked at her, utterly confused by what that meant. However, he didn’t get a chance to ask as Bruce arrived back with the food and then it was quickly back to work. Thor would have brought it up again only they could be working on an unknown deadline. The job came first. The other questions…they could come later.

And finally, the work paid off. It was all thanks to Bruce and Betty as Thor had all the documents pertaining to the upcoming Autoimmune Inflammatory Myopathies project. Individually, neither had noticed. However, with all the numbers and records combined, the information that the project splayed out didn’t make since.

Knowing the words that seemed out of place, the numbers that weren’t right, Thor started to work backwards. He broke apart the documents, fit them into their proper order, and then Bruce and Betty looked at them again.

“This isn’t good,” Bruce murmured.

“What is it?”

Betty guided Thor’s attention to one particular line. “They’ve created an aerosol version of it. It’s more stable. More effective. It only begins to work once it’s breathed in and enters the blood stream.”

“Hey Thor,” murmured Bruce, “if I tell you the name of a program, could you get it? Or recreate it?”

“Possibly? Why?”

“We can’t just run in there and wreck havoc. We’re going to have to do a lot of planning for this and while it happens, I want to run a simulation,” Bruce said. “See exactly what percentages we’re working with while we figure out our next step.”

“Alright. What program are you thinking of?”

They discussed it for a bit longer, Betty and Bruce discussing how the only way they’d know for sure that the project would never be continued again was if they neutralized it. While this happened, Thor found the program in question but his laptop didn’t have the necessary computing power. He edited the coding, asking Bruce what he specifically needed so Thor didn’t cut out anything important.

The entire process took another couple of days, the entire job now on a much slower path. At work, Betty carefully took trips to the third floor, trying to get a feel for what kind of security was there and seeing what little area she could access. Bruce then began to run his numbers, figuring out what kind of destruction could be wrought if the project got out into the public (again, just in case).

However, there was only so much they could all do from afar and eventually, Thor said, “Other than the fact that we know it is being researched and made, and what project it’s hiding under, we still don’t know for sure that where this is being done is on the third floor or not. We need to actually go in.”

Betty leaned forward. “I’ve been going by there, day in and day out. I can—”

“No,” Thor quickly said. “You’re our way in. No matter what happens, we need to try and keep your involvement out of this. I’ll go.”

“Are you sure?” Bruce murmured.

“We need someone to actually go in, to see that we’re on the right track. And with the place under construction, we’re more blind than when we were infiltrating Ross’ labs,” said Thor. “We need to know the exact layout. Besides, this is basically just a recon mission so it only makes since for one person to go. In and out. Quick. Find out what we need to know and then we can go from there.”

“We’ll need to figure out how you’ll get in,” Betty said. “There’s a lot of security checkpoints you’ll have to get passed and the little trick you told me you did with Sterns isn’t going to work.”

“I wasn’t exactly thinking about using the front door.”

Bruce gave Thor a worrying look.

“Listen, it’s going to take some time to get the equipment but I think we’ll have a much better chance in the end.”

“So what is the plan?” asked Betty.

“On the east side is an alleyway between the facility and the carpark. According to the blueprints, there’s only one entrance on that side for trash. There isn’t a way to get into the carpark from that area, only the walkways between the buildings on the second floor. That also means there’s limited security in that alley. Looking at the records, a security guard walks out there every ten minutes. That gives me enough time.”

“But enough time for what?” asked Betty. “There’s still security on the walk way to and from the carpark. And that’s not including all the security once inside.”

“That won’t be how I get in. I’m going straight to the third floor.”

Bruce stared wide-eyed. “You’re not thinking of climbing the outside of the building!”

“That is exactly what I’m thinking,” grinned Thor.

“That’s insane,” whispered Betty. “What about the glass?”

“That’s why it will take a little extra time. I’ll need to get a glass cutter.”

“God, Thor are you serious!” cried Bruce. “What if you fall? What if you—”

“Hey I bungee jumped over forty feet up off the side of a building as a kid,” smirked Thor.

Now it was Betty’s turn to go bug-eyed.

“That doesn’t make it any less stupid!” cried Bruce. “How does this give us better chances than going through the front door?”

“There’ll be far less security of any kind that I’ll have to worry about,” Thor replied. “It’s dangerous obviously but this is a much more direct route and is likely faster than trying to find another way to get me in. Besides, as far as I can tell, there aren’t any designated routes for the guards in that area, possibly because it’s under construction or perhaps Stark purposefully wanted to make sure no one happened upon something they weren’t supposed to.”

Bruce sighed but couldn’t bring himself to argue. Thor had a point.

“Unless you can think of an easier or more direct way,” Thor said to Betty, “I think this is the best choice.”

“It…I suppose it is,” sighed Betty.

“Then we’ll do this and can hopefully put this entire experience to rest soon afterwards,” Thor said. “And perhaps even find a motive while I’m at it.”

From there, the job quickly accelerated and within two days Thor had everything he needed. Betty had told them earlier that nothing unusual had happened that day and everything should be exactly as they needed for Thor’s plan to work.

Thor was ready to go. He just had to wait until close to one o’clock hit and then he’d be gone. As he waited, he double checked that he had everything on him, but he had to pause at feeling the eyes on the back of his neck.

“Bruce,” sighed Thor. “It’s going to be ok.”

“I just feel…if we knew more…”

“This is the only way we can find out more. Short of kidnapping Stark which I don’t think will really help things.”

Bruce snorted at that.

“Listen, getting in will be easy. I know what I’m doing.”

“I know that,” Bruce said.

“And it will be quick. I’ll try to gather as much information as I can but I don’t plan on staying there all night,” Thor murmured.

“I know that too. It’s just…I’m worried. I feel like we’ve been pushed into a corner and there may not be a clear path out.”

Thor sighed, pushing himself to his feet and walking over. He placed his hands on Bruce’s shoulders. “It will be alright. When you wake up, I’ll be back,” Thor promised.

He watched as it looked like Bruce almost wanted to try and say something. After some hesitation, Bruce settled on, “Just be careful. I may be losing Tony…probably already lost him. I don’t want to lose another friend.”

“You won’t,” Thor murmured. “Promise.”

He hugged Bruce, pulling him just a little closer before pulling him back and patting him on the shoulder.

“I’ll see you in the morning,” Thor said. He went and grabbed his backpack, making sure the straps were tight and there was no chance of it falling off. He pulled on the black cap to hide his hair and shield his face before finally leaving.

Just as Thor had planned it out, just as he’d told Bruce and Betty, that was exactly what happened. He scaled the wall, slow and careful. When at the right window, he looked in, seeing exactly what should have been there. Thor just hoped there actually was something on the floor. Otherwise, they were stuck back at square one. He suction cupped a handle to the glass first to better keep himself from falling, and then pulled out the laser cutter.

He only had to a cut away a small piece, right where the window’s lock was. If nothing was happening on the third floor, then the construction crew supposedly working up here would soon find the broken into window. Thor would have to make sure he didn’t leave any evidence behind. However, if this was the right place, then Thor didn’t have to worry as much. Stark and whoever was working on this project would probably never come over here where there was just unfinished building, to focused on their labs and Zodiac. Once done, he broke the air bubble on the suction cup, placed it back in his bag with the laser, and pushed.

Thor eased in, slowly lowering the window back into place and taking out a flashlight next. So far nothing unusual. It definitely looked like a place under construction. However, he was already suspicious as he noted the large amounts of dust too. It seemed like no one had worked on the area in a while. He moved further, past tools and sheets. He went to the nearest finished wall, eventually finding a door and carefully opening it.

Now this was what he’d been expecting.

Though definitely not a fully developed lab, there was enough equipment there that Thor imagined it had been there for some time. Now he knew they were definitely on the right path. That could have been enough but Thor went to the nearest computer. If he could get just a little more information, if he found out perhaps something not on the network…

Just anything else would be good.

And then he did find something as he pulled up a saved email chain. Thor managed to pull up a conversation. He read the flight plans. There was minimal information about the trip. However, it was easy to fill in the gaps with what he’d found out after decoding the false documents. Thor found it was very hard to swallow all of a sudden. No longer was this plan going to be slow and steady now. They’d need to act immediately once Thor got back.

“Don’t move.”

Thor froze. He’d been so thrown by the new information that all his other senses had seemingly shut off. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw movement. A figure came to stand several feet away from him on his right side, clearly making sure he could see all of Thor and staying out of his reach.

“Hands on your head. Slowly.”

Thor did just that. He didn’t have a weapon with him having not planned on a fight. The man was also too far away for Thor to attack and there wasn’t anything near him that he could easily throw and distract the man with. Best to play along for now.

Finally looking at the man, Thor didn’t recognize him. However, going by his slicked back hair and almost greasy complexion, he definitely looked like the kind of creep who’d be working on a project like this, even if the suit was clearly done to make him seem more professional and businesslike. Maybe that look worked on other people but Thor had seen types like these a million times over. Rats hiding in plain sight. He wondered what connection there was to Stark.

“Who do you work for?” the man asked.

Thor stayed silent.

Just as Thor had been sizing him up, the man had clearly done the same with him. He let out a long, annoyed sigh. It was like Thor was inconveniencing his dinner plans, not having just walked in on the man’s super secret and very illegal project.

“You don’t want to talk now? Fine. But I’m afraid I can’t kill you without finding out exactly what you know.”

_Whoosh!_

Not a bang, but a sudden zip in the air. The gun had fired only…it wasn’t a gun. It was some modified tranquilizer that Thor had never seen before. The dart hit him in the chest and Thor immediately launched himself at the guy, trying to get the upper hand, only to crash into the ground. The effect was almost immediate as Thor struggled to get his hands underneath him.

The man just kicked him over, letting out another long sigh. “You know, you really couldn’t have come at a worse time. But so be it. I’ll just have to edit my plans a bit.”

Thor struggled to keep his eyes open but the fight was unwinnable. He slipped into the dark before another thought could even pass through his head.

* * *

Bruce dozed in and out, but he never really fell asleep. He was too worried about something going wrong. What if Thor was caught by security? Or what if the people doing this caught him? Which option was worse? What if they’d been right but Thor was caught and all evidence of Zodiac was quickly moved? What if…

What if.

That was all Bruce had was his own speculations. It was agony as he twisted and turned in bed.

Thor had said he’d be there in the morning when Bruce woke up. Well, it was morning, Bruce was wide awake, and Thor definitely was not there. Bruce got up and paced. He ended up going down to breakfast but was so nervous that he couldn’t eat. He waited in the lobby for a bit, went back up to the room, and continued his pacing. He couldn’t call Thor, the man’s phone having been left behind. Besides, even if he had it, calling could have just caused more problems. Bruce didn’t know what kind of situation Thor was in.

He didn’t know anything.

By nine o’clock, Bruce couldn’t take the waiting anymore. He called Betty.

“Bruce, did Thor find anything?”

“He’s not back. He never came back.”

“W-you haven’t gotten anything from him?”

“Nothing. He never showed up.” Bruce was pacing again. “Though I guess it goes without saying that our assumptions about the third floor were right all along.”

“Yes,” Betty softly agreed. “Listen I’ll…you stay put. I’m going into work now. I’ll have a look around—”

“What if you get caught!? What if—”

“I’ll be careful Bruce,” Betty interrupted. “I know what I’m doing and I do work there after all. I’ll figure out what’s going on and call you. I’ll be fine.”

Bruce uneasily swallowed. “That’s what Thor said.”

“Well he wasn’t wrong. He will be fine. I will be fine. And we’ll figure out what’s going on here. I promise.” Betty paused for a second and quickly continued. “I’m going in now. I have to go but I’ll call you before I leave at five this afternoon. Just sit tight.”

Bruce didn’t get a chance to argue as she hung up. He looked at the phone, looked around the room and all the equipment that suddenly felt so incredibly useless.

He started pacing again.

It was all he could think to do.

The hours began to pass one by one and nothing came of it. Five o’clock started to near and still Betty hadn’t called.

And then five o’clock passed.

Bruce grabbed Thor’s phone and quickly texted a short inconspicuous message to Betty’s. He waited for her to text back, to call him and say that his wariness was well founded or he was just being too paranoid. He got neither. She still didn’t respond.

Oh god, Tony had taken them both! He’d…he’d kidnapped them!

Technically, Bruce didn’t have any proof of that, but imagining Thor and Betty had been kidnapped was a lot easier to deal with than—

No! He wouldn’t dare think of the other possibility. They were still alive. They had to be! And now Bruce was the only one who was free. He…oh god, he was going to have to…

Bruce quickly sat down. He closed his eyes and forced himself to breathe in slow, regular intervals. He was all they had…he couldn’t waste time panicking.

But somehow forming a rescue? That wasn’t Bruce!

But breaking company policy, breaking the law in general, dealing with conspiracies and international criminals, none of that had been his life before. And yet here he was. He’d found out the truth about Zodiac through Thor. Sure, he’d felt overwhelmed at the time, but he’d still chosen to do something about it. He’d made it out alive and now…

Now Thor wasn’t there to guide him, to give him advice in this still so unfamiliar world. But that didn’t really change anything. Bruce was still going to go through with this for the same reason he’d started all this. It was the right thing to do. Betty was his friend, a lifelong friend and Thor…he wanted to get to a point where he could say Thor was a lifelong friend as well.

He cared for Thor just as deeply as he cared for Betty. He couldn’t let either of them down now.

Bruce quickly went through their things, trying to find anything that could be useful. A lot of the tech equipment Bruce just wasn’t familiar enough with and Thor had already told him that most of it didn’t work with Stark Tech. It had taken Thor ages to finally crack through his security measures.

So basically, that meant all Bruce had was his own wits, knowledge of Tony and Stark Industries, if any of the old information still applied, and…

He found it in one of Thor’s bags, the gun. His hands were shaking as he held it.

Bruce closed his eyes again. He thought again about Betty. About Thor.

Just because he had it didn’t mean he had to actually shoot anyone. It would just be a good intimidation technique. Bruce’s hands stilled. He could do this.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He pocked the gun carefully after making sure the safety was still on. He grabbed his coat and Thor’s phone and…and now what? How was he going to get in?

Bruce quickly grabbed Thor’s laptop and pulled up the blueprints to the facility. Let’s see…he remembered a specific entrance Betty had pointed out. She had just mentioned it to fill out the blueprint but there was no way for them to get in that way. Except…

The entrance was Tony Stark’s personal entrance to avoid press and the public if needed. There were cameras back there but Bruce didn’t really care about that. He at least knew the guards’ patterns and just needed to avoid them long enough to get to the third floor. The only real issue was the back door was locked by a code.

If Thor had a virus or program or device that could unlock it, Bruce didn’t know about it. But perhaps…if Tony hadn’t changed as much as Bruce feared he had…

Bruce had to take a chance. He sure as hell didn’t want to but it was his only option in that moment. He left the hotel, taking a taxi down to the Stark Facility. He walked around until he got to the entrance of the carpark. He waited for a car to pass before quickly slipping in. He only got turned around once before going into the private parking area. A bit more looking and he found the door, purposefully placed in a way that allowed easy entering and leaving. Bruce looked down at the keypad.

Tony’s longest and closest friend, James Rhodes. Bruce could easily remember all the weird and seemingly random nicknames Tony had given him. He remembered how important Rhodey had been for him, his only real family after his parents had passed away.

Bruce keyed in the most common nickname he could remember.

_Platypus._

Bruce almost wanted to close his eyes as he waited in anticipation. Please…

The light went green and Bruce heard the door unlock.

He let out a massive sigh and checked his watch. Ok, the other side should be clear. Bruce slipped in. As he did so, he wondered how Tony could be working on his own version of Zodiac and yet still put his friend’s pet names as passwords. Was it really Tony behind all this?

All Bruce could do was hope he’d finally find out today and save Betty and Thor along the way.


	10. The Project

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt bad about the cliffhanger of the last chapter and also just how long it took for me to get to writing this again. The next chapter will be the epilogue and the final chapter. It may be relatively short or as long as a normal chapter, it's hard to say but I hope you enjoyed this story and that the revelation about about Zodiac ends up being worth the wait and I hope you like the ending once it comes.
> 
> Thank you again and thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy!

Bruce slowly walked through the facility, trying to look like he belonged there. It helped that this area was more so Tony’s private space. There weren’t massive amounts of people wandering around and Bruce guessed that they assumed the only way he could be back here was with permission. Still, he avoided the areas he knew guards would be at and—

His plan for sneaking around went up in smokes as he rounded a corner. He didn’t have time to dive back around, to jump into a room and hide. They saw him. Well, there was really no going back from this now.

Tony stood frozen in the hallway, arm slung around Peter’s shoulders as they both stared in shock. Seeing Tony in person for the first time in years, Bruce couldn’t help but notice he was definitely older. He’d changed his hair a bit and the circles under his eyes seemed a little deeper and more noticeable. But even from here, it still looked like Tony. Was this really all him?

Again these back halls were pretty empty so it was thankfully just them standing there.

“Bruce?” Tony murmured. The way he whispered it, there was no hint of anger or indifference or…or anything negative. Nothing like Bruce would expect if Tony was behind this. He almost…he almost sounded desperate to believe it was really him. Like he’d missed him.

“Wait! You know Dr. Banner? Dr. Banner, what’s going on?” Peter quickly asked. “The news, Aunt May and Uncle Ben were watching it and none of us could believe it was you but then you disappeared and it’s been close to a month and the guy you were with, I knew I recognized him and he—”

“Peter, I’ll explain everything, I promise.”

“Hold on, you know the kid?” Tony asked. “Bruce what…just ditto what Peter said. What the hell’s going on?”

“I can’t-I need to know where my friends are.”

“What are you talking about?”

Bruce acted instinctively. Doubt was starting to enter his mind but he needed to keep the upper hand. He finally drew the gun, hoping that would force Tony to come clean. However, he never would have predicted that Peter would step in front of him.

“Peter—” Bruce tried.

“Pete—” Tony said in shock.

“Dr. Banner, I don’t know what’s going on but Mr. Stark is a good person! Whatever you think he did, it’s not true?!”

“Maybe…maybe so but my friends are in danger and I need to find them now. Take me to the third floor.”

“The third-why?” asked Tony who’d quickly grabbed Peter and dragged the kid back behind him. Again, not exactly a move a mad mastermind would do. Bruce’s hold on the gun faltered but before he could say anything, the fire alarm went off.

Now all three of them were looking around in surprise as a group of security personnel came around the corner. They drew their guns and Bruce would have thought he was done for only Tony suddenly said, “Who the hell are you?” What? He didn’t recognize his own security team?

The men flanked their group from both sides and there was no move to try and get Tony and Peter out of the situation. Bruce actually found himself stepping closer to them as he started believing he should have never lost faith in his old friend.

The security officers stepped closer still and Bruce stepped towards Peter, instinctively getting the kid behind him. Tony seemed to have the same idea on the other side. “Bruce…” Tony slowly said.

“I’m as confused as you,” Bruce murmured.

The men parted a bit and a man stepped forward. It took Bruce a moment but he did recognize him. He wasn’t the most famous of people in the science world but Bruce remembered how his failed business endeavor had sent him spiraling down until Tony had taken him on, having him start the biochemical section of Stark Industries. The failed business venture had been called Advanced Idea Mechanics and—

AIM.

Autoimmune Inflammatory Myopathies.

“It’s you,” murmured Bruce. “You started the false project to hide Zodiac behind, the acronym based on your own former company. AIM.”

Aldrich Killian laughed. “I’ll admit, it was a bit on the nose. No one seemed to put the pieces together though and being able to watch you figure it out here and now…priceless!”

“What the hell are you doing Killian? What is-what’s going on?” asked Tony as he turned around. “You’re involved with that missing military project?”

“Of course I’m involved!” Killian’s amusement turned to anger as Bruce found that he wasn’t just protecting Peter. He reached behind him and made sure Tony was right behind him as he tried to stay between them and Killian. “You ruined my company! You ruined everything and then took all the fucking pieces out of the wreckage like you were helping me.”

“I was helping! You had good ideas but it was never going to stand on its—”

“Oh, don’t sell me that bullshit! You wanted control and you took it. Well, guess what? I’m taking control back!”

“How!” yelled Tony. “What are you really going to do? Pepper will—”

“You think Pepper will help you? After everything that happened?”

Tony faltered. “Rhodey won’t—” But he stopped as Killian shook his head with an amused smile. “Happy will—”

“I fired Happy ages ago!”

“You-what—”

“I swear! After Sakaar, after your little kidnapping and choice to move everything from weapons to just anything and everything that might help people-ha! It was easy!”

Bruce’s grip on the gun tightened. He could tell Tony was starting to shake behind him. Tony tried, “I don’t understand—”

“You wanted out of the limelight. You wanted to work on your charity projects and with the kids-hi by the way Peter.”

The kid only shrunk more behind Bruce.

“Anyways, you’d never been one for directly running your company but while your friends floundered and didn’t know how to deal with the panic attacks and the guilt, I stepped in. I cozied on up to you and you put me on the board and I pushed Happy back until I could finally fire him. I made sure Pepper was sent on those PR trips around the country, around the world just so you wouldn’t have her to lean on! So she could feel like you didn’t want her around. And Rhodey, well considering you never called him back after that fight—”

“But I have! I-I tried—”

“I blocked them all. Messed with your phone while you were too willing to believe it was your fault, too willing to focus on your own guilt and belief that you really had screwed things up with James Rhodes before realizing that I’d simply fucked up your phone.”

“Why?” whispered Tony, the sound broken and desperate and very close to panicking.

“For revenge. Obviously! The oldest trick in the book.”

“Then why Zodiac?” Bruce quickly got out. “Why steal it? Why use Samuel Sterns to help you get it?”

Killian looked amused that Bruce had put it all together. “How about we go and visit your friends before I reveal all?”

Bruce’s grip tightened again.

“Come now Dr. Banner. You’re a scientist—”

Bruce pulled the trigger as he again made sure to cover Peter and Tony as best he could. He felt them both jump, saw Killian’s eyes widen with surprise—

Not that it mattered. The safety was still on.

“I must say, you’re a lot more courageous than I was expecting,” Killian laughed as he snatched the gun out of Bruce’s hands. “But I’m afraid that courage has run out.”

Killian made a gesture and the guards closed in. All Bruce could do was hold on tight to Peter. One glance at Tony showed he was really, really trying not to panic. Bruce couldn’t blame him. His whole world had just come crashing down in front of him.

“Tony, I’m sorry,” Bruce whispered. “It’s going to be ok.”

Tony didn’t respond, only gave a small nod and also protectively grabbed Peter.

Well, at the very least it looked like Bruce was going to get to go to the third floor. The fire alarm was still blaring and it seemed everyone else had left the building. They came into contact with no one that could help.

As they walked, Bruce’s mind was already working quickly. There seemed to be a good chance that Zodiac could get out and he needed to figure out how to stop it from killing people when it did.

They took the stairs and eventually made it to the third floor. They walked through the construction area but quickly came to a section that was clearly already finished. They walked into a lab, exactly how Bruce had imagined it only it wasn’t Tony in charge. And off to the side…

More guards stood around Thor and Betty who were tied to chairs with zip ties.

The guards forced Bruce, Tony, and Peter to stand near them as Killian grabbed a stool and sat down in front of them with a pleased smile on his face.

“So, I’m guessing you want to know what this is all about.”

“You already said. Revenge,” Peter quickly spit out as Bruce and Tony tried to hold him back.

Killian laughed. “You have fire kid. And you’re intelligent. It’s going to be a shame to kill you.”

Bruce and Tony both covered Peter as best they could, not that it really did much.

“You see,” Killian continued without a care, “I’m taking over now. After it becomes public that the head of Stark Industries has completely lost it and attempted genocide on the country where he was tortured and held hostage for months, the entire board will be floundering for someone, anyone to take control as they try to decide when they should jump ship. And that’s where I’ll come in. The only one cool headed enough to handle the situation and then I’ll have Stark Industries for myself.”

“Pepper would never believe—”

“Really? You think that after you’ve barely even talked to her in months that she’d still stick up for you? None of your friends will back you up,” Killian laughed. “I made sure to alienate you and anyone that might speak up for you is in this room.”

“And what of what I have to say?!” yelled Tony. “What if I—”

“How can they question you if you’ve already killed yourself out of insanity and guilt?” chuckled Killian. “None of you are getting out of this alive. You understand that, right? Though I will let you stay long enough to see your legacy unfold in front of us. Our plane is flying out…now.”

Tony yelled, angry and confused and so damn terrified. Betty did the same, finally speaking up, yelling about how they couldn’t do this, about all the innocents that were going to be killed. Peter didn’t know how to process anything, clearly not having expected his day to go like this.

Bruce glanced to Thor while this was happening. Seeing as they were backed up against a wall, Bruce could tell Thor had been working on his ties for a while thanks to a hidden knife. One glance told him that Thor had a plan forming in his mind. Thor glanced at him, questioning. Bruce nodded in agreement. Whatever it was, he was ready to act and help Thor.

The others were still yelling when Thor finally spoke above everyone else, still working on the zip ties.

“Whatever he’s paying you, I’ll raise it!”

“I’m going to soon have control of all of Stark Industries. How can a simple criminal raise that?” laughed Killian.

“I’ve been at this game for a while. I have bank accounts spread out, accumulating up to sixty-seven million dollars that I can spread across your accounts here and now,” Thor said, talking to the guards rather than Killian. “No waiting for this man’s plan to come into play, you’ll all be millionaires by the end of the day.”

Several men faltered but it wasn’t enough.

Thor kept talking. “And if that isn’t enough. My father will pay handsomely for my return. You know him, Odin, head of the Asgardian mob. That country’s riches are at his mercy.”

More faltering. Killian tried to stop him from speaking but Thor spoke out again as the zip tie snapped. He carefully kept his hands in place, moving just a bit to get the feeling back in them.

“And clearly, you’re fine with being murderers through association,” Thor said. “You can let hundreds upon thousands possibly die from afar. But to be honest, a lot of people can. But who amongst you is ready to be the one to take this young boy and look into his eyes as you pull the trigger?”

That was what Thor was waiting for. Clearly none of these men were professionals, not when it came to assassinations. They’d obviously been trying to avoid thinking about that.

Killian stood up. “If I have to kill him myself I—”

Thor moved instantly. He grabbed the nearest guard. The man had been standing too close and when his gun had gone slack, Thor knew he’d found his opportunity. At the same time, Bruce grabbed the guard near to him. He shoved the man’s gun down, firing the weapon into the man’s kneecap before taking the weapon himself and pointing at the next man.

Thousands of lives were in danger, possibly more. Innocents were going to die. Peter would die if this didn’t work! It was all that Bruce had feared and he was going to do anything and everything to keep this from happening.

Thor fired quick and paused for just a few seconds as he looked at the other guards. Two of them actually dropped their guns and ran, clearly not planning on putting their own lives at risk. However, at the same time Killian had grabbed his own weapon and had it pointing at Thor.

Thor looked ready to move forward all the same, his own hands tightened on his gun. And then Killian started to turn his weapon on Peter.

It went so slowly. Tony grabbed Peter, starting to step in front of the kid as Thor was close enough and did the same. Bruce was too far away to get to Peter in time so he pulled the trigger.

Two shots sounded and Thor and Killian fell to the ground.

Bruce felt his stomach drop before he quickly turned to the remaining guards. For once, instead of channeling his anger and uncontrollable emotions away, he pulled them all to the forefront willingly and yelled, “Anyone else feel like sticking around!”

The moment the remaining guards were gone, Bruce was rushing to Thor. He’d been shot in the face but he was still breathing and it didn’t look like there’d been any direct hit to the brain. Bruce looked up and saw everyone else was still frozen, though in Betty’s defense she was also still tied to a chair. Bruce’s mind had to work fast. There were a lot of variables and Bruce needed them all to fall in the perfect place to avoid any more casualties.

“Tony, get Betty free. Peter, I’m going to need your help,” Bruce said. Peter rushed forward but Tony remained frozen, his face wrought with horror and his eyes not fully focused on the scene in front of him. “Tony,” Bruce gently urged. “We need you. Ok? Stay with me. A lot of people are counting on you right now.”

That seemed to get Tony out of his trance and he rushed over to Betty. At the same time, Bruce had Peter kneeling next to him.

“What was that!? What-I mean you shot-and him-and I thought-and you’re here and—”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for not telling you, for everything that’s happening,” whispered Bruce. “I’ll explain everything when I can but right now I need you to keep him alive. Can you do that Peter?”

“Yes.” His voice shook, poor kid, his whole body was shaking, but Bruce could already tell Peter was resolved to help.

Bruce showed him how to hold up Thor’s head and to cover the wound as Tony got Betty free.

“Do you still remember Rhodey’s number?” asked Bruce. Tony nodded and Bruce took out Thor’s phone and threw it to him. “Call him now.”

Tony did just that. Betty came over, checking on Thor’s condition and gently encouraging Peter as Tony said, “It’s me Rhodey. I-I was calling-no I-I mean that I-Rhodey I need—”

Bruce quickly got up and rushed to Tony’s side. “Just breathe,” Bruce gently said. “In and out. In and out.” Bruce took the phone out of Tony’s shaking hands as he gently urged him on. “Rhodey, it’s Bruce.”

“Bruce! What the hell is going on? I haven’t heard from you in—”

“I know. It’s been a while,” sighed Bruce. “But we don’t have time for that. There’s a plane headed to Sakaar. It’s carrying an aerosol gas that will kill nearly any mammal that breaths it in. You can’t shoot it down though! There’s no assurance that the gas won’t escape and still effect some ecosystem.”

“Do you know the number of the plane? The model? Anything about it?” Rhodey asked. Thankfully, he heard how serious Bruce sounded and was taking his words at face value.

“Hold on. Thor I need you—” Bruce broke off. He forced back the tears and swallowed. “Tony, I need you to access that terminal. Ok? See if there’s any type of correspondence on there, emails, some message system, anything.” Now with a task to do, Tony quickly rushed to the computer as Bruce gave Rhodey even more information. He told him where they were and that they needed people right away, along with explaining any information that was even slightly important. When Tony pulled up the computer and the emails that were still there, Bruce continued to relay the information. “Remember, it needs to be intercepted but not shot down. If the gas is released, then Betty, Tony and I will find a way to neutralize its effects.”

“Understood. There’s men headed your way now. I’m several states over. I’ll try and be there in the next five hours.”

“Thank you Rhodey.”

Bruce ended the call and then quickly pulled Betty and Tony close. “We need to start working on a way to neutralize this if the military’s attempts go south. If the gas is released, then we’ll have a finite amount of time between the first person being infected and when Zodiac fully takes effect. Tony…you with us?”

Tony quickly nodded. “I…I’m ok. I can…just show me what we’re working with.”

“Betty, take over. Just give me a second.” Bruce went back to Peter and checked on Thor. He was still alive thank god. “You’re doing great. When the medics come, I want you to go with them. Alright? I want someone to be there for him.”

“I-I can do that Dr. Banner,” Peter quickly said.

“I knew you could.” He wished he could be of more comfort but he had to turn back to the lab and see what they had to work with.

Bruce, Betty, and Tony went to work quickly, only pausing when police and military arrived. Thankfully the ones in charge seemed to trust Rhodey over General Ross and were willing to hold off on any repercussions Bruce might face to assure no one else died. They then went back to work.

Running simulations, going from centrifuge to other equipment to the computers and back again. The bodies of the guards and Killian were removed. Thor was taken away as well and Peter went with him. All Bruce wanted to do was go with them, to pray that Thor was going to be alright, but he couldn’t focus on that no matter how much he wanted to.

The work was strenuous, Bruce only focusing on the time to see how much longer they had left. When news came that Zodiac had been released, they finished their antidote and one of the militaries supersonic jets blasted off with it onboard. As it traveled to Sakaar, they double checked exactly where and how the antidote needed to be distributed going by weather patterns. Warnings were sent out around Sakaar, mentioning the ailments and that if anyone felt sick, they needed to go to their nearest hospital as more medicine was getting ready to be flown out as the facility mass produced it.

By the time they got confirmation that it was working, Rhodey had arrived.

“Tony!”

He ran to him, hugging him tight and Tony broke down, just hugging his friend as hard as he possibly could. Glancing behind him, Rhodey nodded to Bruce. “Thank you.”

“I’m glad we were able to make it in time,” Bruce replied.

“Don’t think this doesn’t mean I don’t have questions. There’s about a million and one floating in my head,” snorted Rhodey.

“I expected as much.”

* * *

Many hours of interrogation had occurred but thankfully Bruce had Rhodey on his side as Ross was tracked down along with Samuel Sterns and the remaining guards that had been working with Killian. Even though Ross hadn’t been working with Killian, it thankfully looked like he’d be reprimanded for his illegal work on the project.

Now it was Betty’s turn to go through questioning. When Bruce was free, he headed straight for the military base’s medical bay and found Peter waiting in a hallway.

“Dr. Banner!”

Peter rushed towards him and Bruce held him as hard as he could.

“Is everyone ok? Is—”

“We did it. Sakaar is safe,” sighed Bruce. “Are you ok?”

Peter nodded. “I’ve been waiting, just like you asked but they still haven’t said anything. I don’t even know if he’s out of surgery yet.”

Bruce nodded in understanding.

“What…what happened Dr. Banner? How did you even find out about all this? Why was Thor Odinson of all people helping you? What happened to your hair? And what—”

“Patience,” Bruce said with a tired chuckle. “I’ll explain everything.”

He sat down with a sigh and Peter quickly joined him. He told the whole story again, Peter growing more and more wide-eyed as Bruce went on with the details. To be fair, he wouldn’t have believed it either if he’d been the one listening to it. When he was done, Bruce said, “And I’m guessing the planned event you were going to and were so excited about was this internship with Tony, right? What have you done so far?”

“Do you really want to hear about that now? It was so boring, downright sleep inducing next to what you just told me!”

“I could do with some boring right about now Peter,” Bruce kindly smiled.

The kid shrugged and launched right into his story as he jumped from subject to subject. Bruce listened to Peter, hugging the kid close as he slowly breathed in and out. It was going to be ok. They’d found out what Zodiac had been used for, Ross was getting arrested along with the other players in this twisted game, Killian was dead—

Right. Bruce had killed a man.

He…he was upset about it. He hadn’t liked the feeling and hoped to never hold a gun again. But what he’d done had stopped all this from happening, had saved so many lives. If his intervention had caused Killian’s shot to go wide and Thor lived…well then Bruce could live with his actions. He could make peace with that.

“Dr. Banner?” Peter asked, pausing in his story.

“Just thinking Pete,” Bruce sighed. “How about you head back to Stark Tower? Get away from all this and check on Hulk since you did bring him along.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to leave you alone.”

“I won’t be and you should get away from all this crazy for a bit,” said Bruce as he noted Tony walking towards them. He spoke a little louder and added, “I’m guessing Stark Tower sounds like a good idea for you too, Tony?”

He nodded. “Pepper and Happy are on their way and…Bruce I’m so—”

“No, don’t even try that,” Bruce interrupted. He jumped to his feet and went to Tony. “I broke things off. I ignored your texts and calls and let us drift apart and even when you were hurting, when you were kidnapped and came back I…I didn’t do anything. You have nothing to be sorry for Tony. I should have been a friend and I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you after all these years. But I won’t do that again. If…if you still want me as a friend.”

“Of course I want you as a damn friend. We’re science bros! We blow crap up with Rhodey and give Pepper and Happy heart attacks!”

“I think that was mainly you and Rhodey,” chuckled Bruce.

“Naw, it was all of us! All of us just…and…well I…I’ve…I’ve missed you so much,” Tony admitted as his voice dropped and he started to tear up. They hugged as Tony whispered, “Thank you. Thank you so much Bruce.”

After keeping the hug going a little extra long just because they could, they finally parted and Peter left with Tony. Bruce went back to sitting and waiting, Betty coming along not long after.

“Finally done with the questioning?” asked Bruce.

“For the most part,” Betty said with a tired sigh. “Any news yet?”

“Not yet.”

“Am I going to have to worry about you two making some mad type of getaway or something?”

Bruce actually chuckled at that. “No. No with everything coming out about Ross, Rhodey’s going to make sure I get a clean pass.”

“So you’re sticking around then?”

“I…”

“Don’t feel too pressured Bruce. I understand that’s probably the last thing on your mind right now,” Betty kindly said. She let out a long, tired sigh. “But that being said…I do want you to promise me something.”

“What?”

“When Thor gets out of this, because he will. We’ve both seen how strong he is. But when he gets out, I want you to be truthful to him Bruce.”

“W-what? I don’t-that is—”

“You’ve never been good with your emotions,” chuckled Betty. “Granted, neither have I. Perhaps that’s why nothing ever happened between us.”

Bruce let out a soft sigh. “It probably didn’t help that I always tried to shut you out, everyone really.”

Betty laughed in agreement. “No, that probably didn’t help.” She took Bruce’s hand and squeezed. “But even if whatever might have been between us has passed, it doesn’t matter. You’re still my friend and we’ll stay friends long after this. But that being said, I don’t want you experiencing any more regrets. If you truly feel for Thor, tell him. Before it’s too late.”

Bruce frowned, unsure of how to respond.

“I can’t force you to do it,” chuckled Betty. “But at least promise me you’ll think on what I’ve said.”

“I…I can promise that,” Bruce said with a small smile. He squeezed her hand too. “Thank you though. For everything you’ve done.”

“I’ll always back you up Bruce, no matter what. That’s what friends are for.”

They got as comfortable as they could in the hard chairs and then waited for any news.

* * *

Thor could feel himself going in and out of consciousness. Only little glimpses and thoughts flashed through his mind. He couldn’t really get a hold on anything and when he did, all he felt was numb. In and out a few times…darkness, light…

He tried to open his eyes and he…sort of could. He opened one and the rest of his face just…well he couldn’t feel anything. He twitched his fingers. He saw them move but again, all he really felt were slight pins and needles. But his mind was coming back quickly. He remembered—

Thor would have jumped out of bed if he could. Instead, he just managed to twitch his fingers again. His lips and tongue moved slowly as he tried to force out any words.

“B…br…bru…”

“Don’t worry. A few more minutes and the anesthetic on your face should have worn off. And we have the necessary pain killers in place if you need them I imagine you will.”

Thor looked around before finding the source of the voice. The man stood in a corner and stepped more fully out into the light. “I’m Agent Coulson.”

“O…of?”

“You’re still in Midgard, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“A…r…res—”

“No, no. You’re not under arrest. You know, I’ll grab you some water, give you a bit more time for the anesthetic to wear off so we can have a proper chat,” Coulson said. “I’ll explain everything. And no need to worry about your friends. Everyone you were with made it out alive.”

Thor relaxed at that. He watched Coulson leave and started to move his mouth a bit, trying to work out the pins and needles. The last thing he remembered was getting shot. What had happened?


	11. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's the end! Not super long but I hope it was worth the wait and I'm sorry again for the long pause between chapter eight and nine. Thank you for all the kudos and comments and thank you for reading!

“You can go in now.”

Bruce and Betty jumped to their feet. All Bruce could assume was that Thor was alright seeing as the woman had said it with such a pleasant tone. Still, he couldn’t help but be on edge as they were guided through two doors. They walked down a hallway and we’re directed into a room.

Thor was there, a bandage around his head and his skin paler than usual but very much alive which was all Bruce cared about. And even stuck in a hospital bed and probably feeling horrible, Thor still managed to show a brilliant smile his way.

Before Bruce could think to say anything though, a man stepped in front of him, a pleasant smile on his face. “Dr. Banner, Dr. Ross. I’m Agent Coulson. I’d simply like to thank you for all you did during our crisis. And to inform you that if you speak of what happened, all immunity you’ve been granted for your crimes will no longer stand.”

“Wait, what—”

“Have a good day,” Coulson smiled, heading on his way before either could argue.

“What just happened?” asked Betty.

“Everything that we did technically didn’t happen,” Thor replied. Both of them quickly turned towards him and sat down by the bed. “He’s been walking me through it all for the past two to three hours. I think.”

“Wait, are serious!?” cried Bruce. “We’ve been waiting out there, wondering if you were even—”

“It’s alright Bruce,” Thor chuckled. “He meant no harm and I am technically not here on legal papers. Though the agent assured me that I’d be given some leeway considering what happened.”

“So what’s this about none of it happening?” asked Betty.

“Right, so it’s a mutual agreement Midgard and Sakaar decided on. Midgard definitely has a General Ross being arrested for his work on an unsanctioned project and myself and Bruce have been cleared of the false accusations General Ross sent out to the media. As for Sakaar, there was an unexpected outbreak, hence the demands that people experiencing any one of a number of symptoms be taken to the hospital immediately,” said Thor. “Apparently it’s a bit embarrassing for Sakaar that the majority of their population could have been wiped from a foreign attack orchestrated by basically one person. So neither are connected as far as anyone outside this base cares.”

“And Aldrich Killian?” asked Bruce.

“Agent Coulson didn’t give the details but I got the feeling they were going to cover it up, one way or another,” sighed Thor. “So, tell me what happened. Coulson explained what he could and did tell me you were all alright, though I couldn’t’ know for sure until you walked in here. What about from your side of things? What happened?”

“Well…”

Betty and Bruce went back and forth, describing the panic and the urgency and exactly how they’d figured out a way to save everyone. Bruce of course mentioned that Peter had likely saved Thor’s life and had also gone with him when Bruce couldn’t have.

“I’ll have to thank him. And I’m glad he’s alright,” Thor smiled.

“And you. How are you?” asked Bruce.

“I…well I still can’t feel much for the moment,” Thor admitted. “But they already told me they couldn’t save the eye. A small price I say for being able to keep my life.”

“I’m—”

“Don’t you dare try to say sorry,” Thor interrupted. “I was completely ready to take a bullet for that kid but you saved my life. I should be thanking you.”

“Well, in that case I’m just glad you made it,” smiled Bruce.

They talked a little longer before Betty politely excused herself. Even if they’d succeeded, the ending wasn’t so easy for Betty and she had her father she needed to go and deal with. Once she was gone, Bruce focused back on Thor. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to say to him, what was the right thing to say. However, seeing as it was clear Thor would need to stay in bed for a while, Bruce decided he had time to try and decide the right words.

Instead, he just leaned over and hugged Thor as tightly as he could without hurting him.

“I thought…I’d thought I’d lost you,” Bruce softly admitted.

“You think you were scared?” replied Thor with a strained laugh. “I had no idea what had happened.”

“Sorry I couldn’t get here sooner.”

“Not your fault so no point in saying that,” Thor said, both tightening their hug before finally letting go. “And…it was you. Right? Who shot Killian?”

“Yes.”

“Are you ok?” Thor asked as he gently took Bruce’s hand.

“Everyone’s alive. You’re alive! I’m…I’m ok. I really am.”

“So…what next?”

“Well, you’re going to rest is what’s next,” chuckled Bruce. “The last thing you need to be doing is running around in your condition.”

“That’s fair,” Thor replied. “That can come later.”

Bruce relaxed. He finally and truly felt calm since this entire crazy thing had started as he comfortably rested with Thor.

* * *

The next few days were crazy. Though Thor was technically well enough that he didn’t need to be confined to the medical bay, there of course came the question of where was he going to stay? And, of course Tony had offered because Tony couldn’t help but want to try and be of help.

Bruce actually took him up on the offer. It meant time with Peter, seeing Hulk again, and even Pepper and Happy. The reunion had been a bit awkward considering how long it had been but it felt good to be around them again. And even though Thor was very much the outsider, he fit in quite well at Stark Tower as his injuries healed up. It was just impossible to not like him.

During his time, Bruce also made sure to call up Aunt May and Uncle Ben, explaining what he was legally allowed to and apologizing for throwing Hulk on them without properly asking. He assured them that he’d take Hulk back once everything was settled and they of course promised it was alright and they were happy he was safe.

A surprise visit occurred while Thor was healing which changed things up though.

One day, Tony brought up a visitor as Thor and Bruce sat in the living room (or at least the living room on that floor, Bruce was sure there was another one hiding somewhere). Thor looked up with surprise at the visitor. He looked uncertain, a rare thing for him.

Both men stepped forward and Bruce remembered Thor’s stories and the image he’d seen on TV of the family.

“How are you here brother?” asked Thor.

“By a plane and then a car.”

Thor sighed but it was a fond noise more so than any actual irritation. “That’s not what I meant.”

“I know,” Loki smiled. They stepped closer, hesitated, but then Thor quickly closed the rest of the gap and hugged him as tightly as possible and Loki did the same. It was obvious he was happy to be there but he still tried to maintain an aloof, indifferent attitude as he said, “Don’t get too excited. I probably wouldn’t have come except I’m here on business and I…well I figured I might as well thank you for saving my life.”

Thor’s eyes widened. “That’s right! Scraps said you were on Sakaar-wait. How can you know about what really happened?”

“I was at the meeting to decide how to deal with the situation.”

“You mean…you work for the government? People actually elected you?” laughed Thor.

“Of course not. I fucked a politician and he gave me a job.”

“Loki!”

The wicked grin on Loki’s face made it impossible to tell whether he was joking or not. Either way, it was clear he was taking pleasure in his brother’s horror.

“It’s good to have you back,” Loki admitted after Thor’s shock had gone away.

“Yeah…yeah it’s good to have you back too.”

After that, Bruce excused himself and gave them some privacy to speak. Later that night, he met up with Thor again. Peter and Tony were in the labs with Rhodey keeping an eye on them, Pepper and Happy working, and Hulk was comfortably curled around Thor’s feet as he sat on the couch.

“So the reunion went well?” Bruce asked as he sat next to Thor.

“Yes, I think we were both tired of just being too stubborn to talk to the other. We also…I think I’m going to go back to Asgard.”

“Oh.”

“It’s just…perhaps it’s time my brother and I smooth things over with our father-and I have missed our mother. And Scraps is still there and I certainly want to see her after all this happened so it just—”

“It’s still your home. I get it. No need to give me more of a reason than that,” Bruce said, interrupting Thor’s ramblings. “I guess now’s as good a time as any to admit…well Tony offered me a job.”

“You should take it.”

“Really?”

“You have your friends back. I’m sure you wish to spend time with them and…and this is your world. It always has been.”

“Yeah, it is,” Bruce softly admitted. Did this mean the next few days were their last. There technically wasn’t any reason for them to see each other again. The job was done and they now had their own lives they could get back to. But…Bruce didn’t want that to be the end he realized. He didn’t want their time together to end and he didn’t want to regret not doing anything to stop that.

“I could still—”

Thor was cut off as Bruce leaned over and quickly kissed him, moving back as quickly as he’d moved forward. Bruce remained frozen as he watched Thor process the move.

“I…was going to say I could still visit,” Thor slowly finished before a smile broke out across his face. “But now I definitely know I’ll be coming back.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes,” Thor promised, cupping Bruce’s face and going in to kiss him again. By their feet, Hulk gave out what almost sounded like a growl of approval before curling closer to them. When they parted slightly, Thor murmured, “Nearly losing you…I care for you deeply Bruce. After all we’ve been through, I don’t ever want to lose you again.”

“I don’t want to lose you either,” Bruce murmured before they kissed again and wrapped their arms around each other, both content in knowing they had each other.


End file.
